| Career Summary |
1990: Graduated, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
1995: Doctor of Engineering from The University of Tokyo
1995: Research Associate, National Center for Science Information Systems (Currently, National Institute of Informatics)
1997: International Fellow, Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado
1999: Associate Professor, Information Technology Center, The University of Tokyo
2002: Associate Professor, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo
|
 |
|
|
| Educational Activities |
Graduate School: Human Interface,
Undergraduate School: Information System Engineering, Media Technology |
|
|
|
| Research Activities |
The Interaction Technology Laboratory (ITL), led by Associate Professor Masanori Sugimoto, is a laboratory dedicated to the development of innovative systems and artifacts related to the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Our focus is not on technology alone, but on improving the quality of human life through technology. Therefore, knowledge and techniques from a wide range of disciplines, such as computer science, electronics engineering, cognitive science, psychology, sociology, and design, are incorporated into our research. Most of our current students are from engineering schools, but we are always open to students with other educational or professional backgrounds. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of our research field, students with atypical backgrounds are expected to be able to contribute to the lab in their own unique way. (More information is available at http://www.itl.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/)
1) Mixed Reality Technologies and their Applications
In this study, a mixed reality technology that integrates a physical and virtual space is investigated. To date, we have developed an RFID-based object recognition system and devised several mixed-reality applications for supporting collaborative work and learning as shown in the figure.
Example of a Mixed-Reality Application
2) Human Robot Interaction
In this study, we investigate a method for the autonomous navigation of multiple flying robots that support human activities and co-exist in human spaces. Flying robots were constructed using airships. The payload of an airship must be small, in order to reduce the size of the blimp. Therefore, only a wireless light-weight camera, used for position detection and motion planning, is mounted on the airship. Multiple flying robots were applied to a monitoring system used in indoor spaces, such as a museum. The merits of the application are that flying robots can move freely without being disturbed by obstacles on the floor, and un-monitored areas were smaller than those encountered when using robots that move on the floor. Furthermore, we develop a flying robot that interacts with humans by recognizing their gestures.
Human Robot Interaction Using "Projection by Manipulation" Techniques
3) Location-aware Computing
Here we introduce an innovative measurement technique for positioning systems using ultrasonic signals. The advantage of the proposed technique is that it can accurately identify the relative distance and orientation between devices using a one-time ultrasonic packet. Therefore, it is especially useful for ubiquitous computing applications where individuals with mobile devices continuously change positions in an indoor environment. The technique, which is called the "phase accordance method", uses two or more carriers in ultrasonic communication. A special ultrasonic burst signal, called a "sync pattern", in the header part of a communication packet gives the base point of time measurement. Next, the entire time difference calculation is carried out using this base point. This experiment proved that the proposed technique had a remarkable performance: less than 4.5-mm error in three-meter distance measurements and less than 1-degree errors in the 0-, 10-, 20-, and 30-degree measurements.
Relative Positioning Technique Using Ultrasonic Communication
4) Innovative Interaction Technologies for Mobile Devices
In recent years, mobile devices have gained popularity. One of the merits of mobile devices is their mobility, that is, we can take them with us anywhere (much easier than desktop or notebook computers). However, the devices have a problem of screen real estate, and, therefore, we feel difficulty in using them with conventional input methods such as a mouse and a keyboard. In this research, we have been developing a gesture input technology by taking advantage of the "mobility" of the devices. Using a system called Toss-It, a user can send information to receivers by toss or swing actions with his/her mobile device (Figure 2). Accelerometers and gyroscopes for recognizing users' gesture are mounted on mobile devices (in this case, PDAs). We have also developed a technology for projecting displays of mobile devices by capturing their three-dimensional positions and orientations.
Intuitive Information Transfer with Gestural Input
|
Literature
1) Sugimoto, M., Kusunoki, F., Hashizume, H: A System for Supporting Group Activities with a Sensor-Embedded Board, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C, Vol. 36, No. 5, pp.6 93-700 (2006,).
2) Sugimoto, M., Miyahara, K., Inoue, H., Tamura, K.: Projecting Displays of Mobile Devices based on 3D Positions and Intuitive Manipulation Techniques, IPSJ Journal, Vol. 47, No.6, pp. 1976-1986 (2006).
3) Sugimoto, M., Hosoi, K., Hashizume, H.: Caretta: A System for Supporting Face-to-Face Collaboration by Integrating Personal and Shared Spaces, In: Proceedings of ACM CHI2004, Vienna, Austria, pp. 41-48 (2004).
|
|
|
|
| Other Activities |
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
International Society for the Learning Sciences (ISLS)
Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers of Japan (IEICE)
Information Processing Society of Japan (IPSJ)
Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan (IEEJ)
Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence (JSAI)
Japanese Cognitive Science Society (JCSS)
Virtual Reality Society of Japan (VRSJ)
Japanese Society for Science Education (JSSE)
JSAI Editorial Committee Member
Journal of CSCL Editorial
PC Member of numerous international conferences |
|
|
|
| Future Plan |
| Information and communication technologies rapidly penetrated into our society. The important and challenging issues in this age are how human-centered technologies can be designed for anyone (from infants to the elderly), anywhere (schools, offices, etc.) and anytime. We will contribute to our future society through the design and development of innovative human computer interaction technologies. |
|
|
|
| Messages to Students |
"Don't worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try."
We can learn from failure, but never learn without doing. If the level of the originality or creativity of your research project is high, you have to think deeply and try it by yourself, because you may be the first person to undertake this challenge. Our group welcomes any student who enjoys such challenges without worrying about failure. |
|
|
|
 |
|
