The Japan Research Institute Hironobu was an entrepreneur in the field of social media, then entered JRI in 2006. At JRI, he has engaged in fusion strategy based on ICT, and has provided advice to both the government and the private sector. Mr. Azuma is especially strong in the fields of ICT x healthcare, ICT x energy, smart community, interactive media and tech-based startups. He is responsible for NEDO Technology Commercialization Program in Japan which leads to the creation of a number of startups based on the cutting edge science and technology.

Maki is an Associate Professor at the Department of Gastroenterology in Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine KOBE.

He pioneered the use of 3-D in the surgery such as (1) Augmented tangibility surgical navigation using spatial interactive 3-D hologram zSpace with OsiriX and Bio-Texture 3-D organ modeling; (2) Smart Retina AR Navigation Surgery - Gesture Controlled Volume Rendering using OsiriX for Image Guided Robotic Surgery with Laser Retina Augmented Reality Projection Wearable Focus Free Eye Wear; (3) Projection Mapping of Mixed Augmented Reality Surgery by OsiriX: Image Overlay Surgery; (4) The world's first Oculus Rift robotic surgical navigation using da Vinci surgical system; (5) The world first Holographic Patient-Based Augmented Reality Surgical Navigation, using zSpace + zView Immersive Virtual 3-D Holography System with OsiriX and Bio-Texture Modeling