SeatecHIROSHIMA Ltd. 
Ocean data
Ocean data: oyster raft positions for the people who run boats and the people who own rafts
This is an ocean information business, separate from our surface treatment. Using satellite data and a small beacon (IKAK) fixed to rafts, we are developing ways to know where oyster rafts are floating.
Uses with a page of their own
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OceanMap
OceanMap: oyster raft positions on a boat’s screen, from satellites and beacons
A system that shows the oyster rafts found by satellite on a boat’s screen. We are developing it as an aid to navigation when rafts are hard to see at night or in fog.
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Stage: Proven, Finding oyster rafts in satellite imagery
We analyse satellite data to find the oyster rafts floating in the sea. Not every raft is found, so it is meant to be used alongside a lookout.
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Stage: Being tested, A phone alert when you near an oyster raft
A system that warns you on a smartphone running the app as your boat nears a raft fitted with IKAK.
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Stage: Concept, Ground-truth data for the satellite analysis (checking against measurements, correcting offsets)
An idea for checking the satellite analysis against where the rafts actually are.
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Stage: Concept, Obstacle data for autonomous ships
An idea for putting the data we gather on rafts and other obstacles to use for autonomous ships.
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Stage: Concept, Helping small boats avoid each other (the phone as a beacon)
An idea for letting small boats without AIS notice each other through their smartphones.
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IKAK
IKAK: a small beacon for oyster rafts
We are developing a way to keep track of where oyster rafts are, using a small beacon fixed to the rafts and the smartphones of passing boats. IKAK sends out only its own ID number, and we never publish where boats or fishers have been.
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Stage: Being tested, IKAK (a beacon for oyster rafts)
A small beacon fixed to oyster rafts. It sends out only its own ID number, which the smartphones of passing boats pick up.
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Stage: Concept, Managing oyster rafts, and keeping track of rafts and debris that drift away
An idea for using IKAK’s ID numbers to tell rafts apart, to help manage them and keep track of any that drift away.
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Stage: Concept, Extending IKAK’s range (offshore buoys, other aquaculture, port facilities)
An idea for extending IKAK’s range so it can be used beyond oyster rafts.
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Stage: Concept, How it would be offered (app, data and beacons)
Our idea of how the app, the data and the beacons would be offered.
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Where ocean data could go next
We are considering taking the satellite analysis and raft data we began with oyster rafts to other waters and other uses.
Watching over the sea (suspicious vessels and drifting objects)
An idea for using data on rafts and fishing gear whose positions are known to help keep watch over the sea.
Stage: Concept,
The thinking is that once rafts and fishing gear whose positions are known are set aside, unfamiliar things such as suspicious vessels or driftwood become easier to pick out. We are considering using the data we gather in this kind of sea-monitoring analysis.
Related uses
- Stage: Concept, Obstacle data for autonomous ships
- Stage: Concept, Overseas ports and national ocean data platforms
Other aquaculture waters (pearl and fish farming in Ehime and elsewhere)
An idea for taking the raft mapping we began with oyster rafts to other aquaculture waters.
Stage: Concept,
We are considering taking the raft mapping we began with oyster rafts to other aquaculture waters, such as pearl and fish farming in Ehime.
Related uses
- Stage: Proven, Finding oyster rafts in satellite imagery
- Stage: Concept, Oyster rafts and baskets, and filters in land-based aquaculture
Overseas ports and national ocean data platforms
An idea for providing raft position data to overseas ports and national ocean data platforms.
Stage: Concept,
We are also considering providing raft position data to overseas ports and to national ocean data platforms.
Related uses
- Stage: Concept, Obstacle data for autonomous ships
- Stage: Concept, Watching over the sea (suspicious vessels and drifting objects)
Monitoring seagrass beds by satellite
An idea for keeping an eye on the extent of seagrass beds in satellite images.
Stage: Concept,
We are also considering using satellite images to keep an eye on how far seagrass beds extend.
Related uses
- Stage: Proven, Finding oyster rafts in satellite imagery
- Stage: Being tested, Restoring eelgrass beds
Related uses elsewhere on the site
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Stage: Being tested, Working with us
Joint research and field trialsWe design and run sea trials together with universities, research institutes, companies and local governments.
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Stage: Being tested, Working with us
Taking part in Hiroshima University’s COI-NEXT centreSince October 2025, we have taken part in Hiroshima University’s JST COI-NEXT centre for a marine cultural city built on ocean remote-sensing technology.
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Stage: Concept, Take it off
Measuring the state of foulingAn idea for turning the state of fouling into data.
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Where the technology comes from (Kuroda’s research)
The idea of control: designing what sticks and what doesn’tAt the heart of the technology is control over what settles: keeping things off where they are not wanted, and actively helping them take hold where they are welcome. Our ocean data business (OceanMap) takes the same idea into ocean information, and uses no surface treatment.
How to read the stages
- Stage: Proven,
- Results checked at sea or in the field, and on record
- Stage: Being tested,
- Trials, prototypes or development under way
- Stage: Concept,
- At the planning stage, including ideas shown as exhibits or prototypes
Want to know where the rafts are, or to use the data to manage your own? Talk to us about ocean data.
Talk to us