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))

Remunerations of Researchers in the Public and Private Commercial Sectors

Source: European Commission's Directorate General for Research <http://ec.europa.eu/eracareers/pdf/final_report.pdf>

The results of the study, carried out from May 2006 to March 2007, show the remuneration scheme of the researchers in Europe, and compare it against the situation of researchers in other countries [...].

High differences between the remunerations of researchers throughout the EU25 and Associated Countries, although the gap between the levels of remuneration in each country reduces when considering the cost-of-living. [...] But, even if one considers the PPS (Purchasing Power Standard), the differences between countries are extremely high in most cases and for example, a researcher working in Austria may expect a remuneration level around 60.530 EUR, whilst a researcher in France would receive 47.550 EUR (21,44% less) or a researcher in Slovakia would receive 18.282 EUR (69,80% less). [...]

Only Austria, The Netherlands, Israel, Switzerland and Luxembourg have an average remuneration similar to that of the United States, considering the cost of living in each country. [...] The EU25 average (40.126 EUR) is far below the US average (62.793 EUR). Only Austria (60.530 EUR), The Netherlands (56.721 EUR) and Luxembourg (56.268 EUR) have a similar remuneration level to the United States. If we consider the Associate Countries, only Israel (59.580 EUR) and Switzerland (59.902 EUR) have an average remuneration similar or higher to the United States. Australia, India and Japan have an average of remuneration that is higher than the EU25 in terms of PPS and which is, in the case of Australia and Japan, in a similar range to the level of the United States. In the case of China, its remuneration level is far below the EU25 level.

High differences in expected career progression throughout the EU25 and Associated Countries. [...]

In most of the countries, the remuneration for men is higher than for women. [...]

[Read the report]

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 #5 - Data Processing: search and clustering, in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: Horizons <http://horizons.free.fr/his/eng/seminars/2007-04-26_his-seminar_5.htm>

The 5^th seminar on Horizons for Information Societies was about data processing. Dr Houle (NII) presented his research on search and clustering at the 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics). This seminar was recommended for any and all users of search, clustering, or classification techniques in their work. No special background in these areas was assumed.

Slides of the presentation:

• Dr HOULE Michael: A Combinatorial Approach to Search and Clustering (PDF)

Date: 26 April 2007 (15:00-17:30)
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))