HIS seminar #11 - Sensors & Monitoring: sensor networks, in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: Horizons <http://horizons.free.fr/his/eng/seminars/2008-05-28_his-seminar_11.htm>

The 11^th seminar dealt with sensors & monitoring. Dr Platon (JSPS fellow, NII) presented his research on data retrieval and his research on sensor networks at 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics).

Slides of the presentations:

• Dr PLATON Eric: Working on Security in Wireless Sensor Networks (PDF)
  

Date: 28 May 2008 (10:00-11:15)
Location: 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics), Tokyo, Japan
Language: English
Registration fees: None
Attendees: 5 persons
Organization: Dr DUVAL Sébastien, 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics)

HIS seminar #10 - Data Processing: data retrieval and multilingual opinion analysis, in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: Horizons <http://horizons.free.fr/his/eng/seminars/2008-02-26_his-seminar_10.htm>

The 10^th seminar dealt with data processing. Dr Evans (NII) presented his group's activities on data retrieval and his research on multilingual opinion analysis at the 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics).

Slides of the presentations:

• Dr EVANS David: Overview of the NTCIR Information Access Evaluation Workshop (PDF)
• Dr EVANS David: Multilingual Opinion Analysis at the NTCIR Evaluation (PDF)
  

Date: 26 February 2008 (15:30-17:00)
Location: 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics), Tokyo, Japan
Language: English
Registration fees: None
Attendees: 8 persons
Organization: Dr DUVAL Sébastien, 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics)

NPO法人ウェアラブルコンピュータ研究開発機構定例会 (regular meeting of the Wearable Computer Research & Development NPO) held in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

In the frame of its regular activities, NPO法人ウェアラブルコンピュータ研究開発機構定例会 (Wearable Computer Research & Development NPO) organised a 4h30 seminar entitled 離陸直前のウェアラブルの諸相 (Various perspectives on wearable computers before takeoff) at 秋葉原ダイビル (Akihabara Daibiru) in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan) on 13 December 2007. It described the state of the art in 2007 and recent Japanese works.

During his talk ウェアラブル離陸直前 (Wearable computers before takeoff), 塚本昌彦 (TSUKAMOTO Masahiko) explained that the general public uses much more pocket computers (e.g. cellular phones, digital cameras, electronic dictionaries, music players) in everyday life and may adopt head-mounted displays as soon as 2008 at home if not in public places. He evoked three critical challenges discussed afterwards by other speakers: system platforms, safety and raw materials (e.g. textiles for smart clothing). As for his research, he still designs smart clothes. As a member of his team, 寺田努 (TERADA Tsutomu) introduced during his talk ウェアラブルのシステム (Wearable systems) an illuminated tree controlled by worn sensors and Wearable Toolkit, a toolkit to create rules for wearables based on sensor data.

During his talk ウェアラブルの安全性 (Safety of wearables), 河合隆史 (KAWAI Takashi) presented in depth investigations on head-mounted displays to understand their physiological and psychological effects on humans. To study fundamentals, his group carried out experiments with young adults in laboratories and outdoors, displaying combinations of stripes, which is standard for vision-related psychological experiments. Penetrating results will require much effort and should involve children and older adults to cover the influences of growth and decline, which is not planned yet.

During his talk ウェアラブルの素材 (Materials for wearables), 脇田玲 (WAKITA Akira) introduced several technologies to create color-changing clothes presented by others at Tokyo Fiber 2007 - Senseware in Paris (France) on 26-28 June 2007 or developed by his group. He then quickly evoked the potential for applications.

Finally two special talks were given: 人間のI/Oを拡張するためのインタフェース技術 (Interface technologies to extend human input/output) and 21 世紀の人類は「i-borg」になる！？：常時装用インタフェースによる脳力強化人間 (21st century humans become i-borg!? Usually worn interfaces that extend human intelligence). 稲見昌彦 (INAMI Masahiko) discussed novel and sometimes artistic input/output paths for human-computer systems, with numerous illustrations from his research, and concluded with a question: "After wearables, will we really get implants?". 福本雅朗 (FUKUMOTO Masaaki) discussed replacements for usual elements of Japanese cellular phones, with a long focus on the detection of typing shocks (using fingers or feet) to replace keyboards with systems such as FingeRing and UbiButton.

The main participants were: 塚本昌彦 (TSUKAMOTO Masahiko) from 神戸大学 (Kobe university), 寺田努 (TERADA Tsutomu) from 神戸大学 (Kobe university), 河合隆史 (KAWAI Takashi) from 早稲田大学 (Waseda university), 脇田玲 (WAKITA Akira) from 慶應義塾大学 (Keio university), 稲見昌彦 (INAMI Masahiko) from 電気通信大学 (The university of electro-communications), and 福本雅朗 (FUKUMOTO Masaaki) from NTTドコモ (NTT Docomo).

HIS seminar #9 - Ubiquitous Computing: location-awareness in ubiquitous computing and human needs in wearable computing, in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: Horizons <http://horizons.free.fr/his/eng/seminars/2007-10-04_his-seminar_9.htm>

The 9^th seminar dealt with ubiquitous computing. Mr Hoareau (SOKENDAI, NII) and Dr Duval (NII) presented, respectively, location-awareness in ubiquitous computing and human needs in wearable computing at the 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics).

Slides of the presentations:

• Mr HOAREAU Christian: Ubiquitous Computing, Location-Awareness and Query Processing (PDF)
• Dr DUVAL Sébastien: Needs in Wearable Computing: a User-centred Approach (PDF)
  

Date: 04 October 2007 (15:30-17:30)
Location: 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics), Tokyo, Japan
Language: English
Registration fees: None
Attendees: 10 persons
Organization: Dr DUVAL Sébastien (国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics))

脇田研究室 第1回展示会 - 情報の官能 (Wakita laboratory 1st Exhibition - The Senses of Information) held in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: <http://horizons.free.fr/seikatsu/eng/events/2007-09_jp-tokyo_wakita-expo.htm>

The first exhibition of textiles and garments by 脇田研究室 (Wakita laboratory), entitled 情報の官能 (The Senses of Information), took place in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan) on 8 and 9 September 2007. It featured binary ("0"s and "1"s)-based compositions, tools and artistic works such as dresses based on the Fabcell technology and on the Wearable Synthesis concept.

Fabcell is a square textile created by 渋谷みどり (SHIBUTANI Midori), woven from flexible non-emissive yarns connected to electronic components, whose color can change depending on the temperature. The color of the exhibited dress (see photo) changed from green to red, controlled by the application of specific voltages to its conductive yarns. This technology can be exploited for fashion, or to provide information such as a wearer's emotional state. The application of strong voltages to quickly change the temperature–and thus color–of the textile poses a significant risk to the wearer and bystanders. Additional problems include a limited resistance to washing and the difficulty to create small cells.

The Wearable Synthesis concept defines clothes and accessories as modules with both input (e.g. temperature sensor) and output (e.g. colored LEDs), which connect to each other to provide a variety of effects. For example, a dress may change its color according to other worn items, or to the presence of an acquaintance nearby. Such a model was presented at the exhibition but did not work when I went by.

The 脇田研究室 (Wakita laboratory) was founded by 脇田玲 (WAKITA Akira) at 慶應義塾大学 (Keio university) in 2004 to investigate the future of information design. It is therefore involved in Internet-related technologies, interactions and fashion.

[See photos]

HIS seminar #8 - Linguistic Support: annotation of multilingual biomedical texts and dictionary reversal for German-Japanese, in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: Horizons <http://horizons.free.fr/his/eng/seminars/2007-06-14_his-seminar_8.htm>

The 8^th seminar dealt with linguistic support. Dr 川添 (Kawazoe) (NII) and Dr Doan (NII) presented their research on the annotation of multilingual biomedical texts, then Dr Apel (NII) introduced his research on dictionary reversal for German-Japanese at the 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics).

Slides of the presentations:

• Dr 川添愛 (KAWAZOE Ai): Semantic Annotation in BioCaster: its Design and Challenges (PDF)
• Dr DOAN Son: The Roles of Named Entities and Their Roles in Classifying Annotated Biomedical Texts (PDF)
• Dr APEL Ulrich: Dictionary Reversal – Building a German-Japanese Dictionary from Japanese-German Data, Using Vocabulary Analysis, User Cooperation and Approaches from Natural Language Processing (PDF)
  

Date: 14 June 2007 (15:00-17:00)
Location: 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics), Tokyo, Japan
Language: English
Registration fees: None
Attendees: 19 persons
Organization: Dr DUVAL Sébastien (国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics))

デバイスアート CRESTシンポジウム (Device Art CREST symposium) held in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

In the frame of 戦略的創造研究推進事業 (CREST) programs, a 1H30 symposium entitled デバイスアート CRESTシンポジウム (Device Art CREST symposium) took place at 秋葉原ＵＤＸ (Akihabara UDX) in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan) the 18th of May 2007. It highlighted interactions and collaborations between artists and researchers.

The device art, art based on devices, is defined by three characteristics: (1) the body of the device is itself-part of-the content, (2) the device is playful, and (3) its aesthetics establishes a bridge between cultures of the past and of the future. Three main threads were followed during the presentations, each indicating the role of research in the development of this new form of art: the creation of interactive gadgets, the creation of functional modules reusable by artists, and techniques/methods of evaluation to foster dissemination among the young and older general public. The three threads are strongly related to three research fields in which Japan is a world leader: virtual reality, robotics, and ubiquitous systems (e.g. wearable computers, intelligent environments).

The main participants were: 稲見昌彦 (INAMI Masahiko) from 電気通信大学 (The university of electro-communications), 児玉幸子 (KODAMA Sachiko) from 電気通信大学 (The university of electro-communications), 土佐信道 (TOSA Nobumichi) from 明和電機 (Maywa Denki), クワクボリョウタ (KUWAKUBO Ryota), 矢野博明 (YANO Hiroaki) from 筑波大学 (University of Tsukuba), 八谷和彦 (HACHIYA Kazuhiko) from ペットワークス (PetWORKs), 前田太郎 (MAEDA Taro) from 大阪大学 (Osaka university), and 草原真知子 (KUSAHARA Machiko) from 早稲田大学 (Waseda university).

Note: The device art has already been introduced in France and in the United States of America. It has notably been the focus of a session at the conference of Laval Virtual (Laval, France) in 2006; devices such as the robots of 稲見昌彦 (INAMI Masahiko) have also been demonstrated there.

HIS seminar #7 - Data Processing: automatic construction of knowledge resources, in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: Horizons <http://horizons.free.fr/his/eng/seminars/2007-05-17_his-seminar_7.htm>

The 7^th seminar on Horizons for Information Societies was about data processing. Mr Picard (FT R&D) presented his research on the automatic construction of knowledge resources at France Telecom R&D (France) and at the 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics).

Slides of the presentation:

• Mr PICARD Etienne: Automatic Extraction from Web Corpora of Characteristic Properties of a Concept (PDF)

Date: 17 May 2007 (14:30-15:30)
Location: 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics), Tokyo, Japan
Language: English
Registration fees: None
Organization: Dr DUVAL Sébastien (国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics))

HIS seminar #6 - Data Processing: XML similarity, in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: Horizons <http://horizons.free.fr/his/eng/seminars/2007-05-10_his-seminar_6.htm>

The 6^th seminar on Horizons for Information Societies was about data processing. Dr Chbeir (LE2I) presented his research on XML similarity at the Laboratoire Electronique, Informatique et Image (France).

Slides of the presentation:

• Dr CHBEIR Richard: XML Similarity (PDF)

Date: 10 May 2007 (15:00-16:00)
Location: 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics), Tokyo, Japan
Language: English
Registration fees: None
Organization: Dr ANDRES Frédéric (国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics))

HIS seminar #4 - Virtual Humans: emotion simulation, in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: Horizons <http://horizons.free.fr/his/eng/seminars/2007-04-04_his-seminar_4.htm>

The 4^th seminar on Horizons for Information Societies was about virtual humans. Mr Becker (Universität Bielefeld) presented his research on emotion simulation at the Universität Bielefeld (University of Bielefeld) and 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics).

Slides of the presentation:

• Mr BECKER Christian: Emotion Simulation for a Virtual Human: Implementing the As-If Body-Loop in a Cognitive Architecture (PDF)

Date: 04 April 2007 (15:00-16:00)
Location: 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics), Tokyo, Japan
Language: English
Registration fees: None
Organization: Dr DUVAL Sébastien (国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics))

HIS seminar #3 - Quantum Information: basic concepts in quantum physics and applications of entanglement and quantum optics, in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: Horizons <http://horizons.free.fr/his/eng/seminars/2007-02-22_his-seminar_3.htm>

The 3^rd seminar on Horizons for Information Societies was an introduction to quantum information. Mr Louis (NII) and Dr Van Loock (NII) presented, respectively, basic concepts in quantum physics and applications of entanglement and quantum optics at the 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics).

Slides of the presentations:

• Mr LOUIS Sébastien: Basic Concepts in Quantum Physics (PDF)
• Dr VAN LOOCK Peter: Applications of Entanglement and Quantum Optics (PDF)
  

Date: 22 February 2007 (15:00-17:00)
Location: 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics), Tokyo, Japan
Language: English
Registration fees: None
Organization: Dr DUVAL Sébastien (国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics))

HIS seminar #2 - Affective Interface Agents: emotional agents for time management and interaction based on physiological signals, in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: Horizons <http://horizons.free.fr/his/eng/seminars/2006-12-05_his-seminar_2.htm>

The 2^nd seminar on Horizons for Information Societies was about affective interface agents. Dr Richard (JSPS fellow, NII) and Dr Prendinger (NII) presented their research on, respectively, emotional agents for time management and interaction based on physiological signals at the 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics).

Slides of the presentations:

• Dr RICHARD Nadine: Interface Agents Expressing Emotions: What For? (PDF)
• Dr PRENDINGER Helmut: Affective Interaction with Life-Like Interface Agents (PDF)
  

Date: 05 December 2006 (15:00-17:00)
Location: 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics), Tokyo, Japan
Language: English
Registration fees: None
Organization: Dr DUVAL Sébastien (国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics))

HIS seminar #1 - Data Processing: semi-supervised clustering and inter-modal analysis, in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: Horizons <http://horizons.free.fr/his/eng/seminars/2006-11-01_his-seminar_1.htm>

The 1^st seminar on Horizons for Information Societies was about data processing. Dr Grira (NII) and Dr Martinet (JSPS fellow, NII) presented their research on, respectively, semi-supervised clustering and inter-modal analysis at the 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics).

Slides of the presentations:

• Dr GRIRA Nizar: Semi-Supervised Clustering in Image Databases (PDF)
• Dr MARTINET Jean: Inter-Modal Analysis for Document Annotation: an Information Theoretic Approach (PDF)
  

Date: 01 November 2006 (15:00-17:00)
Location: 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics), Tokyo, Japan
Language: English
Registration fees: None
Organization: Dr DUVAL Sébastien (国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics))

Predictions for the future of wearable computers in Japan

Source: マイコミジャナール (Mycom journal) <http://journal.mycom.co.jp/articles/2004/10/30/wpcexpo/index.html>

During WPC EXPO 2004, which took place at 東京ビッグサイト (Tokyo big site) from 20 to 23 October 2004, チームつかもと (Team Tsukamoto) discussed the past, present, and future of wearable computing. The most interesting things were the fashion show and the five predictions for the future of wearable computers in Japan:

「予言１」　ウェアラブルデジカメは二年以内に流行する！
Prediction 1: Before the end of 2006, wearable digital cameras will become popular.

「予言２」 ウェアラブルケータイは三年以来に流行する！
Prediction 2: By the end of 2007, wearable phones will become popular.

「予言３」 五年後にはウェアラブル端末を使っていろいろな場所でユビキタス情報を受信するようになる
Prediction 3: After 2009, wearable terminals will allow the reception ubiquitous information in various places.

「予言４」　十年後には子供は外で鬼ごっこゲームをするようになる！
Prediction 4: After 2014, Children will play tag with wearables.

「予言５」　十年後、赤ちゃんもHMDをつけるようになり、親とコミュニケーションをとるようになる！
Prediction 5: After 2014, babies will wear Head Mounted Displays (HMD), thus maintaing contact and enabling communication with parents.

The three first predictions, purely technology-oriented, are likely to materialize on time owing to the technologies and structures available in Japan. However, the concretization of the two last predictions, application-oriented, is more dubious. Leaving aside the issue of acceptance (mainly a cultural issue), the difficulty is to create relatively inexpensive technologies that are highly resistant to children's activities and environment.

[Read the article and see photos]