NTT Wins Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award for Project Humanity

Collaboration with Dentsu Lab Tokyo and WITH ALS adapts digital avatars to assist those with physical or cognitive challenge

News Highlights:

• Project Humanity honored by Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards, which recognize “the businesses and organizations that are developing creative solutions to the most pressing issues of our time.”
• Developed by NTT, Dentsu Lab Tokyo and WITH ALS, Project Humanity revolutionizes interface technology by converting EMG signals into control signals, enabling users with limited physical mobility to operate digital avatars.
• Project Humanity exemplifies NTT’s commitment to conducting fundamental research and development to create technology that betters society for all, including through the work of NTT R&D and NTT Research labs.

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NTT Corporation (NTT), announced that Project Humanity, a groundbreaking platform that enables those with limited physical mobility to operate digital avatars in virtual spaces, has received a Fast Company World Changing Ideas 2025 Award. Developed in collaboration with Dentsu Lab Tokyo and WITH ALS, Project Humanity revolutionizes interface technology by converting EMG signals generated by muscular contraction into control signals, enabling users with limited physical mobility to operate digital avatars.

“Project Humanity is a revolutionary system intended to give more physical freedom to people with disabilities and enable them to engage with society more meaningfully,” reads Project Humanity’s entry on Fast Company’s 2025 list of 100 winning projects. “An interface converts EMG signals—which are generated by contracting muscles—into control signals for use on various digital platforms. It’s an intuitive communication method for people with limited mobility, particularly those with ALS.”

Muto Masatane is a DJ living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and founder of the advocacy organization WITH ALS. Masatane has utilized Project Humanity to perform concerts live and in the metaverse via a digital avatar, including at SXSW 2024. In addition, NTT hosted "DE & I eSports," an inclusive event that allowed people living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and Muscular Dystrophy to interact remotely from their homes in Japan with able-bodied people at venues in Japan and France.

Looking ahead, developers plan to expand the technology’s use cases to improve day-to-day opportunities for those living with disabilities, including creating greater access to education via virtual classrooms, realizing richer communication capabilities for those living with ALS, supporting the movement of people with spinal cord injuries and further supporting the encouragement of participation for people with dementia.

NTT: Innovating for a Better Future for All

Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards celebrate innovative ideas and projects that make the world a better place, including through social impact, environmental awareness, technological innovation and social equity. Project Humanity exemplifies NTT’s commitment to conducting fundamental research and development to create technology that betters health, wellbeing, connection and society for all, including through the work of NTT R&D and NTT Research labs.

For example, NTT’s Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) All-Photonics Network recently connected performers in Japan and Taiwan at Osaka Expo 2025 for a first-of-its-kind, real-time co-production of a traditional kabuki performance using the APN’s ultra-low latency and ultra-low power capabilities. The company also announced in April the successful demonstration of a world-first drone capable of triggering, guiding and “catching” lightning to protect individuals and infrastructure from dangerous lightning strikes.

At Upgrade 2025, NTT Research, the Silicon Valley-based fundamental research arm of NTT, announced the creation of the Physics of Artificial Intelligence (PAI) Group dedicated to studying the “black box” nature of AI and machine learning to develop more trustworthy, safe and sustainable AI-based systems. Additionally, NTT Research’s Medical & Health Informatics (MEI) Lab is advancing the creation of a cardiovascular bio digital twin to improve precision healthcare, including through the Autonomous Closed-Loop Intervention System (ACIS). ACIS improves the treatment of severe cardiac events by autonomously optimizing and administering multiple cardiac drugs and therapies simultaneously.

In 2024, NTT, NTT DATA and NTT R&D deployed Embodied Knowledge technology at the Indianapolis 500 automotive race. This cybernetic technology powered simulators that allowed users to experience the track in extended reality (XR) as driven by professional drivers, exceeding the capabilities of traditional simulators by adding factors like realistic steering wheel forces, driver seat forces and car vibrations. But, researchers expect Embodied Knowledge technology to have a diverse range of future use cases, including medical surgery training, employee training in fields like retail and manufacturing and enabling AI robots to move and react more like humans (better serving functions such as in-home caregiving).

For more information about Project Humanity, please visit:

• Project Humanity: Providing Intimate Support to Respect the Humanity of Individuals

For more information about NTT’s R&D initiatives, please visit:

• How NTT is Innovating for the Future
• NTT R&D
• NTT Research

About NTT

NTT contributes to a sustainable society through the power of innovation. We are a leading global technology company providing services to consumers and businesses as a mobile operator, infrastructure, networks, applications, and consulting provider. Our offerings include digital business consulting, managed application services, workplace and cloud solutions, data center and edge computing, all supported by our deep global industry expertise. We are over $90B in revenue and 340,000 employees, with $3B in annual R&D investments. Our operations span across 80+ countries and regions, allowing us to serve clients in over 190 of them. We serve over 75% of Fortune Global 100 companies, thousands of other enterprise and government clients and millions of consumers.