We introduce a concept car of fire-fighting vehicles specialized for wildland fires occurring around the world. The firefighting for wildland fire requires the coordination between firefighting troops on the ground, aerial troops and the commander. Unlike the firefighting in the urban area, however, the existing information infrastructure is not available, which makes the inter-troops communication difficult. To solve this issue, the information center unit is installed on the vehicle under the concept of "information base on the ground". Utilizing satellite communication, the unit enables troops to communicate each other without the existing information infrastructure. The vehicle is important as hardware to diversify the firefighting strategies by sharing the information collected closest to the fire cite. This article describes the process of development of this firefighting vehicle for wildland fire.

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Wheelchair on the market today, does not considering the design of wheelchair. To promote a positive attitude and work generically in the office, design of wheelchair lead their mind to be more active, also psychology side becomes important at the same time. In the present study, we integrate the method of forming and lean shape by using art techniques to prove feature of wheelchair in the natural world. By using this technique can create the lovely wheelchair to be more comfort in terms of feature and psychological aspect.

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This study is to design an interior vehicle for wheelchair users. The present self-drive wheelchairs are structured to be moved by operating driving wheels with both hands; thus, the users cannot use their both hands freely, and when they are used indoors, the users have to restructure the indoor space as well as the equipment appropriately for the wheel chair they use. And in the countries like Japan with the culture dividing the inside from outside clearly, when the wheel chair having been used outside enters inside as it is, it may cause hygienic problems or disharmonious emotion. Noticing this fact, this study aims to design an experimental model applying the compact shape and two-wheel self-balance function, and examine the possibilities of it to solve the problems described earlier objectively conducting related experiments. In addition, it also investigated the possibilities of it as a new-concept ICV (Interior Chairing Vehicle) that can be used freely by not only wheelchair users but also the aged and even those without physical disability.

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The Architecture does not have movement, like the word "immovable". On the contrary the furniture means movable. If the architecture moves like the furniture, and the furniture have function like the architecture, what can be changed? I defined first one as "mobile architecture", and second one as "architectural furniture." A common notion of both of them is "Mobility". "Mobility" is a free return ticket of them. In this essay, I would like to mention the crossing the border between product and architecture through design of Architectural furniture. Three types of Architectural Furniture have been produced based on extracted basic human behavior in residential building. They are "Mobile Kitchen", "Foldaway Guest Room" and "Foldaway Office, dealing with such actions as "to eat/to cook", "to sleep/to relax", and "to work/to study" respectively.

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This work "sodento" has been developed from the research entrusted by Nakayama Mokko in Okawa-shi (famous as a center of furniture production), Fukuoka. Recently furniture makers in Okawa-shi have faced a serious depression because of the pressure from large-scale competitors which produce items in China and sell them cheap. Nakayama Mokko has sought to find a new market and reform production processes. Designed from the concept "the desk is movable," "sodento" is a small stacking desk made of pinewood. The desks, when stacked, serve as a cabinet. They are designed both for public places and for a domestic use.

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KIGAMI is the material which sliced wood to 0.1mm and gave special flexible processing. KIGAMI has the feature which cannot be broken even if it bends. Work of the tableware using KIGAMI was tried in this research. Although KIGAMI is used for the lamp shade and the card case, but it does not have any example of application in tableware. Then, the processing method was examined first. As a result, the method of sewing by the hand or a sewing machine was devised. Five kinds of tablewares were designed and made as an experiment using this method. In this research, it succeeded in using KIGAMI as material of tablewares.

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More and more digital musical instruments have been developed for individual use. Our new product, beacon, is totally different from conventional ones of the past and produces a unique space for several people to gather around, exercise, and play music simultaneously. It is fun and easy for everyone to enjoy, and at the same time offers a new mean of artistic expression depending on the player's ingenuity and willingness to practice. Created to represent a platform for social interaction through music, beacon is expected to be the best tool for such activities as school education, recreation, fitness, rehabilitation, games, competitions, and of course, new artistic expression.

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CAVScene was developed as an observation and recording tool for learning environments involving hands-on activity, such as preschools. It is a tool that makes it possible to record the creativity and coincidences of the learning process effectively. CAVScene is a webcam-equipped mobile PC, compact enough to be held in one hand and record while in motion. Using the on-screen tablet functions, users can capture both moving and still images and hand-write directly on them during recording or playback. Meanwhile, the Post-It function lets users input observations using the keyboard and "stick" them on the appropriate image, making it possible to give feedback on specific scenes to participants after observation sessions. This allows participants to share information with observers while reflecting on the session thus far. CAVScene was jointly developed by researchers in the three fields of child care and education, information system development, and interface design.

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This paper shows design of "Participatory Platform: Zuzie" which facilitates expression activities on learning in museums or schools. The design orients generating fruitful learning with learning by expression in the social fields. Then creative process and design thinking within the designing Zuzie are introduced. Activity modeling and tool design for refinement of two versions of Zuzie development are discussed as practical wisdom of designing.

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When designing information products, heavy emphasis is placed on determining product concepts and uses. This is achieved by imagining situations in which the products will be used, along with their look and behavior, and creatively proposing methods of user interaction. However, the computer systems that support these products require them to be constructed logically. When both these aspects are combined together at the highest level, brilliant designs are born. This is what we refer to as interaction design. The methods and processes of interaction design are not yet written in stone. This paper takes a look at what occurred within an interaction design process of a Web service site that we actually conducted, and its significance.

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This "3D Character Quiz" is one of the sections in "Shakeen!," a program broadcast on NHK Educational TV. "Shakeen!" is an intellectual entertainment program that encourages children to think and use their imagination and memory. This program is broadcasted every week from Monday to Friday. Unlike other works that are viewed independently, for the "3D Character Quiz," it was necessary to take into consideration the broadcast content before and after the segment as a part of the TV show. Therefore, the content of the segment was considered to be based on the order of broadcast within the program and the details of other parts of the program. In addition, considering that the show was to be broadcast regularly, attractive expressions were required to capture the attention of viewers over the entire broadcast period. I reviewed a production process that would make such expressions possible, prepared an efficient production system, and established a process that would be able to maintain the quality of the show throughout the year.

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This work is the digital media tool that organizer and each participant reflect on the learning experience and share their experiences in events or workshops. The characteristics of our work include the following that: (1) We were recording and editing a Real Time Video in parallel with the progression of workshop. (2) Organizer and participants could watch the Real Time Video and reflect on each other at the end of workshop in real time. (3) We are immediately published a real Time Video via the Internet and we could give the organizer and participants a chance to reflect their each experience for long time.

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In the present project, we developed the unique universal design font LIM Uni-Type with strong emphasis on its legibility on the displays of digital device such as the personal computers and cellular phones. At first, in order to make clear the needs for the font design for the digital devices, we had a close look at the current situations where they are used in our daily life. Based on the obtained results, we set up clear design concepts of our font and we sequentially established the design principle of our font. According to the design principle, we produced the first version of our font. Using the psychological method, we quantitatively investigated the legibility of the syllabic Japanese characters kana. As the results indicated several defects in legibility of the design, we redesigned those kana characters to correct the defects. Finally, we conducted the psychological impression evaluation experiment for the corrected version (i.e., final product version) of our font, using short Japanese sentences composed of kana and kanji (Chinese characters) as the stimuli. The results verified the high legibility of our font. The results also demonstrated that our font has a unique feature for viewers to feel comfortable while reading small-sized characters (i.e., near the threshold level in legibility).

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The Medication Booklet for Children named 'Healthy Kids' was designed not only for recording medicines when children is sick but also for daily use to protect children's health. The target age is from 0 to 14 years old, matched with that for pediatrics treatment. Many ideas are involved, such as easy observation check lists pages for housewives to reduce their physical and psychological stress. The design tried to reduce the negative image of a medication booklet, and emphasizes pleasantness for stress free daily use. The booklet is connected to the homepage of the NPO 'Kids and Medicine', so that parents can obtain reliable and updated information. The network is also intended to realize sustainable and interactive social network among parents and medical specialists such as pharmacists. In the development process, user participatory approach was taken.

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STYLE NOTE BUSAN/FUKUOKA (hereafter referred to as STYLE NOTE) is a city guidebook that introduces Fukuoka and Busan and is being created as part of the project "Busan-Fukuoka Asia Gateway 2011", a joint tourism campaign of the two cities. STYLE NOTE aims at presenting the "lifestyles" of real people living in Fukuoka and Busan--their ordinary routines that are nevertheless indispensable to their enjoyment of life. Mere publication is not the paramount objective of STYLE NOTE. Instead, it lays more emphasis on the collaboration of people in both cities, a collaboration that grows during the creative process. In particular, the project encourages the participation of students who are learning design. The hope is that, by working together towards the same goal, the young people in both cities will come to a better understanding of each other; will learn procedures for projects involving different cultures; will form networks; and will give rise to a spontaneous project that will link the two cities. While many friendship campaigns have no more than a passing effect, this project has the future firmly in its sights, and aims at long-range, substantial outcomes.

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A lot of signs are set up along a river in Japan. However, these signs are not effectively set up. Their content also lack clarity. They are thought an obstacle to river view by a lot of people. Therefore, this work tried to make effective river signs. In this project, we made guidelines about river signs, in cooperation with Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Kyushu Regional Development Bureau. The guideline have design rules which are color, layout, pictograph and so on. Furthermore, conforming to the guidelines, it constructed a model area at mikumagawa river in Hita-City, Oita prefecture.

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Designing maps for local area is an important problem for any regional planning and design. As well-designed map effectively plays some important roles for making regional image for the visitors. This work tried to make such effective maps for Ogunimachi in Kumamoto prefecture where one can experience the rich rural landscape. Through some examinations, two types of "maps were proposed: "Real-map" visualizing the relief, and "Icon-map" drawn by the simplified road-paths. Finally, as the applications, signs and guide-map for a walking course, and information leaflet and signs for tourists were designed.

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A pattern of a road surface was designed to prevent an accident of the Metropolitan expressway. The software of a driving simulation animation was UC-Win/Road 3.2. The evaluation items of the impression experiment were effect of slowdown, consciousness to a curve and troublesome. The experiment results were shown in the following. It is effective in slowdown to change the pattern into a vertical course. It lets you be conscious of a curve to arrange the pattern in the road surface center. It decreases in agony to reduce an area of the pattern.

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The No. 9 bridge is a two-span continuous pre-stressed concrete extradosed bridge built across Yanagawa dam lake. It is the shifting road of the Route 106 which buried in water by the dam construction. The bridge is watched by dam site and it creates new scenery in the dam lake because of its main tower. The Landscape architecture was aimed to attempt harmony with the scenery in the surroundings. We simulated the scene by the computer graphics and the models to imagine the dam lake. About relation of molding with the main tower and the bridge pier, we considered the constitution of the form. It introduces these examination processes in this text.

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When Tokiwa Park was being constructed in Soja city's Miwa district, the authors of this study collaborated with the local residents, administrative bodies, fire fighting authorities, and educational institutions to develop a park design for disaster prevention. The design process proceeded gradually through the following four stages: (1) understanding the functions of disaster prevention, (2) eliciting the residents' opinions, (3) attachment for place, and (4) discussing disaster and maintenance activities with the residents. The key designs were constituted design workshop with the residents, workshop on disaster prevention, and information exchanges with the residents. Being involved in the park design gave the residents a sense of pride and identity. Residents' participation is very important to ensure that the next generation has efficient and valuable facilities.

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Shinozaki Biotope is located on the riverbed of Edogawa River in Edogawa Ward,Tokyo. The plan of the biotope was built upon the activities of a local volunteer group. The author, an environmental designer and a citizen of Edogawa Ward, has been involved in this biotope for eight years. This article will give an account of the creation of the biotope from its start to completion, as well as the discovery of an endangered species of plant in the area.

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"Yokan wall (Insight wall)" is a work of the real time documentation that we created at the exhibit event "Yokankenkyujo 3" at The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. This documentation work is the practice of real-time drawings on the "documentation wall" where we draw not only the activities of the visitors' expression of their interpretation about the exhibit but also the evolutional process of the various happenings and changes at the exhibit site over time. The documentation work encourages the visitors, who used to be only viewing the exhibit, to participate and engage in expression activities, and that enables a dialogue between the visitors and exhibitors. Our goal is to create deeper communication between visitors and exhibitors as well as to provide a new value for the exhibit site by defining the documentation which captures the visitors' expression activities as one of the exhibit items.

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Just as companies' environmental initiatives and PR activities can be branded greenwashing, there is a conflicting relationship between economic activities and environmental issues. Moreover, while the importance of environmental perspectives is broadly recognized by society, the very fact that the term eco-fatigue exists shows that people need mechanisms and reasons in order to be able to continue undertaking eco-activities in their daily lives enjoyably and without stress. With this work, we thought about how eco activities should be designed as part of corporate communications given these conditions, and considered designs from various perspectives. We turned large 18m x 10m ad tarp covering the Ginza Sony Building into jeans. We hoped that the jeans would become a new medium for transmitting the corporate image.

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