Skip to playerSkip to main content
Japan-based startup uses drone technology to detect mosquito populations

Masaki Umeda, vice-chief executive officer of SORA Technology, a Japan-based startup that uses drone technology to detect mosquito populations and in agriculture, spoke to The Manila Times at the sidelines of the AVPN Global Conference in Hong Kong on Sept. 9, 2025 to discuss the technology.

VIDEO BY RED MENDOZA

Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe
Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net

Follow us:
Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook
Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram
Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter
DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion

Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital

Check out our Podcasts:
Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify
Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts
Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic
Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer
Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher
Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein

#themanilatimes
#tmtnews
#philippines
Transcript
00:00Can you give us an overview about Sora and how does it help in bringing medicines and controlling infectious disease in far-flung areas?
00:12Okay, Sora Technology is a Japanese startup and we have been deploying drone and AI for climate resident public health assistance in developing countries.
00:24So, one of the flagship services so far, which is mainly for Africa, is to map out the high-risk lava habitats of mosquitoes, which is very important for malaria control or generally mosquito control.
00:40So, simply speaking, our drones are first defined widely and then we will collect the geographical data by touching several camera-zone sensors at the bottom of drones.
00:52And those data will be analyzed using our AI and then we will suggest high-risk area.
00:59So, of course, drones have been used in so many instances already and it's been well-publicized.
01:08So, what sets apart Sora from other drone technologies?
01:13So, of course, we have strong capability of drones, so different from conventional drones, which is called Machcopter, that can fly vertically.
01:22We have been developing and operating, fixing drones, which is a kind of very small aircraft and it can fly over 100 kilometers.
01:30And also, we have strong capability also on imaginary analysis AI.
01:35So, not only for detecting where water bodies are, we can analyze some features of water, like a turbidity, temperature, vegetation, by which we can pinpoint the hotspots of mosquito, which is another strong point for our company.
01:53Yeah.
01:54Yeah.
01:55Yeah.
01:56Yeah.
01:57Of course, you said that you were, you mentioned that you were, you came, you went to the Philippines a few months ago in Leyte specifically.
02:03So, of course, you've seen how, you've seen the terrain, you've seen the area.
02:09How does your technology help in areas such as in Leyte in the Philippines, of course, when it comes to health and agriculture?
02:18How would it help in these communities?
02:22Yeah.
02:23So, we are now trying to customize our AI more for, specifically to dengue fever, I mean tiger mosquitoes.
02:33And so, so far we have been focusing on Africa against malaria, but we are trying to customize it against dengue in Asia, specifically Philippines.
02:44And yeah, two months ago, I went to Leyte to do some first trial, which is aiming for digitizing the lava habitats detected by our drone and AI.
02:59And we are going to, so one of the problems in the Philippines, in our understanding, is about unpredictability of dengue fever and the climate change.
03:09So, by digitizing the lava habitats, using drone, and by combining those data with our AI analysis platform, which is aiming for analyzing how those AI,
03:22how those risks can be changed over time under climate change.
03:26We are going to do some, to customize some prediction systems, which can, you know, do some proactive countermeasures for some dengue fever control,
03:38or even under the climate change.
03:39What are the challenges of increasing your life and the climate change these issues?
03:40All right.
03:41Let's stop and stop again.
03:42Let's go.
03:43Let's get started.
03:45Let's get started.
03:47What are the challenges of the policy that look like in order of climate change?
03:48We are going to make things like that.
03:50Let's start a plan.
03:51This we are from the economy, guys.
03:52We are challenging the climate change.
03:55How are the climate change?
03:57What are the climate change?
03:58We are along the climate change, we are facing anything.
03:59The climate change in a climate change?
04:05We are also there.
04:07You
Comments

Recommended