Technologies seen at Osaka Expo increasingly being put into practice

Technologies showcased at the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, including a sheet of heart muscle cells made from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, are seeing growing practical applications.

Patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, in which clogged blood vessels prevent the heart muscle from functioning properly, need to receive a heart transplant when the condition becomes serious. In many cases, they need to wait for over five years before receiving a transplant.

But if three of Cuorips’ RiHeart iPS cell-based sheets are attached to a heart, some 100 million cardiomyocytes promote blood vessel recovery, helping improve the heart’s function.

“This would resolve a hopeless situation,” Kazuyoshi Hirao, executive vice president of Cuorips, a startup originating from the University of Osaka, said of RiHeart.

In September, RiHeart was implanted into a patient at an Osaka hospital, becoming the world’s first iPS-originated medical product used in a surgery. This attracted attention from foreign countries including Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.

“The challenge is to mass-culture uniform heart muscle cells,” Hirao said. “IPS cells are a Japanese-born innovation in basic science. We hope to lead the way in practical application as well.”

Science's “human washing machine,” which was exhibited at the Osaka Expo, has been installed at six locations including accommodation and hot spring facilities. | JIJI　

In last year’s expo, Science showcased an upgraded “human washing machine,” whose predecessor grabbed attention at the 1970 Osaka Expo.

The new machine, which washes the whole body of a user with fine bubbles in a capsule-shaped device, has been installed at six locations including accommodation and hot spring facilities.

Five units are set to be delivered to a U.S. retreat facility as well. The company also targets elderly care facilities, helping them reduce assistance time. The company is developing a version for household users.

Matrix exhibited a detector that can find holders of the company's integrated circuit tags buried under debris during the Osaka Expo. | Matrix / via JIJI

Technologies from small factories in Osaka were also shown at the 2025 Expo. Matrix exhibited a detector that can find holders of the company’s integrated circuit tags buried under debris within a range of about 8.5 meters.

The company started selling the detector for business users in September, while its IC tags have already been delivered to some 150 businesses including food and elderly care companies for use in entry and exit management at buildings. If they introduce the detector, their emergency response capabilities will improve.

“Japan is a disaster-prone country,” Yoshimitsu Tsuji, president of Matrix, said. “We hope our products will be used to rescue as many people as possible.”

Flying cars, billed as a next-generation means of transportation, were another feature at the 2025 Expo, during which SkyDrive held demonstration flights of its flying car. So far, the company has conducted some 300 demonstration sessions, aiming to start commercial operations in fiscal 2028.

In May this year, the company achieved a stable flight at a speed of 100 kph. It plans to operate flight services in Iwate, Oita and Shizuoka prefectures, in addition to the city of Osaka.