• Approximately 30 proof-of-concept projects underway at Woven City, with the Woven City AI Vision Engine adding new capabilities

• Seven companies join Woven City as Inventors, bringing the total to 31

• Phase 2 construction begins and visitors from across Japan will be welcomed to Phase 1 beginning October 1

SHIZUOKA, Japan (September 25, 2026) – Toyota Woven City (“Woven City”), jointly developed by Toyota Motor Corporation (“Toyota”) and Woven by Toyota, Inc. (“WbyT”), today marked the first anniversary of its official launch. Since starting operations as a test course for mobility, proof-of-concept trials (“POCs”)  have steadily expanded.

Woven City is a living laboratory designed to create new value through Kakezan — the multiplication of diverse strengths and expertise across industries. As of September 2026, approximately 30 POCs centered on residents have been underway. 

About 160 people across roughly 80 households are participating as Weavers, the residents who take part in POCs. The group includes residents of Susono City, where Woven City is located, as well as surrounding municipalities. 

Inventors conduct POCs, gather feedback from Weavers and refine their products and services through cycles of Kaizen — a process of continuous improvement. This cycle is now actively supporting the development of new products and services.

The Woven City Integrated ANZEN System (“Integrated ANZEN System”) is one example. Developed by WbyT, the system is now being tested in Woven City. Under the recent partnership agreement signed between WbyT and Shizuoka Prefecture, WbyT will expand testing beyond Woven City within fiscal year 2026 by installing devices in Shizuoka Prefecture government vehicles and collecting data. 

The AI Robot Association (“AIRoA”) is also advancing POCs with Woven City residents. Household robots provide daily living support such as tidying up and carrying items. As of September 24, AIRoA has introduced the robots in 11 households, with more than 1,000 tasks tested to date.

UCC Japan, which operates UESHIMA COFFEE LOUNGE at Woven City, has developed a method to visualize over 300 behavioral data points from POC participants in graphs. As a next step, the company will leverage this visualization method to examine how different types of coffee affect concentration levels.

WbyT plans to release Woven City AI Vision Engine 2.0, a major update to the current version, by the end of 2026. The AI Vision Engine is currently used in the Integrated ANZEN System and UCC Japan’s POC at Woven City. AI Vision Engine 2.0 will expand its ability to describe real-world events in natural language, while adding capabilities to reason why events occurred and detect specific behaviors by people and mobility technologies in visual data. The current AI Vision Engine has recorded a world-leading score on one vision language model benchmark, while AI Vision Engine 2.0 has recorded world-leading scores on more than 10 benchmarks*¹, including those measuring reasoning.

Note*¹: Evaluated using an internal testing environment built by WbyT, following the standards and methodologies provided by benchmarks such as MVBench, CaST-Bench, and GroundingME.

Seven New Inventors Join Woven City, Bringing the Total to 31

Woven City’s community of Inventors, the driving force behind Kakezan, continues to expand. This includes four companies that won the Toyota Woven City Challenge - Hack the Mobility - accelerator program: Aerial Base, Aillis, Inc., JOYCLE, Inc., and NationX, Inc*².

Chubu Electric Power Miraiz Co., Inc., Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. have also joined as Inventors, bringing the total to 31. 

■Toyota Woven City Challenge Winners

Note*²: Changed from original finalist PUBLIC Technologies.

■New Inventors

Phase 2 Construction Underway with General Visitor Reception Opens

Construction on Woven City’s Phase 2 began in September. Site preparation work has been completed and the area is now scheduled to be completed by the end of November 2028, with a planned 600 resident capacity. Phase 2 aims to accelerate POCs and build on Phase 1, where POCs started last year.  It marks a further expansion of Woven City’s total site area, which ultimately is planned to accommodate approximately 2,000 people. 

Starting October 1, Woven City will open visitor reservations to the general public in Japan. Reservations open today through the visitor website. The program began in September with visits from residents of Shizuoka Prefecture and is now expanding nationwide.

Woven City was recruiting residents from Shizuoka Prefecture in August and received more than 1,000 applications. Approximately 25 households are expected to move into Woven City around March 2027 through this program.

One year after its official launch, a growing number of co-creators who share WbyT's belief in driving change “For Others” are joining Woven City to take on the future of mobility together. WbyT will continue accelerating POCs with Inventors and Weavers, aiming to make Woven City inventions a natural part of everyday life and enhance  well-being for all.

■Woven City Phase 1 and Phase 2 Information 

Note*³: The entire area is expected to eventually accommodate approximately 2,000 residents.