App maker and RIKEN will collaborate to develop rain predictor

RIKEN has entered into a partnership with mobile content provider MTI to develop a smartphone app that will alert users when there is a danger of torrential rain. The company already offers an app providing warnings to users that, based on a phased array radar operated by Toshiba, Osaka University, and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), has better than 80 percent accuracy. However, the warnings typically do not come far in advance, typically three or four minutes ahead of time, so that only 56 percent of users have been able to take measures to avoid the rain. The goal of the new collaboration is to use RIKEN’s computer simulation technology to provide earlier warnings, with ten minutes ahead of time being the aim. The goal is to begin testing in July 2017. The current version, which is available free from Google Play or the Apple Store, is in Japanese and only covers Japan.

MTI Ltd.
MTI provides users with both convenient and fun services by way of mobile sites and apps usable on smartphones and tablets, delivering such content as music, health information, e-books, weather information, and more.
President and Chief Executive Officer：Toshihiro Maeta
Founded：August 12, 1996
URL：http://www.mti.co.jp/eng/