We focus on a timetabling problem of university makeup classes and construct a scheduling system based on man-machine interaction which enables to reveal essential and also informal information of the problem domain. In this problem, makeup classes which are requested by the lecturers have to be scheduled to a specified time slot under the hard or soft constraints, e.g., schedules of the lecturers and the students. A constraint based scheduling model is newly introduced and several parameters of the model are settled through the repetition of the solution evaluation by the operators. In order to extract the essential information of the problem domain, formal concept analysis techniques are applied, where the optimized timetable outputted by the computer is analyzed and visualized as logical implication among attributes of the optimization model. Through the numerical experiment with the actual data, the potential of the proposed approach is examined.

We propose a novel interactive retrieval system which enables a user to intuitively retrieve materials. Our system needs a user to sketch an abstract of the target material as search query, which indicates component layout, color of components and class of components; text, figure or table. In general, the expression of hand-written query is dependent on user's sense or appearance of the target material. To realize a system which enables a user to search freely and intuitively, it is necessary for the system to recognize a wide variety of sketch expressions. To define expressions which our system should recognize, we had 165 users draw search queries in a preliminary experiment and extracted common features of sketch expressions. Based on this knowledge, we developed an interactive retrieval system that recognizes attributes of the components in hand-written query and retrieves similar materials in the aspect of recognized attributes; layout, color and class. We had 48 novice users search the target materials using our system. Results of this experiment show that our system is effective to search when a user doesn't remember detail contents, e.g. keywords, in the target material.

When taking a photo, such verbal prompts as "cheese" or "smile" are often used by photographers to get natural smiles from their subjects. However, since the obtained smiles usually look forced or resemble a grimace, capturing a natural smile is difficult. We propose an active camera system called "Laughin'Cam" that obtains naturallooking portraits by eliciting spontaneous smiles by presenting the sound of laughter. The proposed system utilizes an emotional contagion effect, which is the tendency of emotional behavior to spread from person to person. We conducted an evaluation experiment with our proposed system using computer vision and also performed a subjective experiment. Our results suggested that our system could efficiently induce naturally-looking and spontaneous smiles.

We expect that even elderly people who are novice players will be willing to play a keyboard instrument if there are appropriate supports for them. We conducted experiments in which participants played a keyboard while watching a model performance video without a sheet music. Then, we got some requirements of a practice method to be lower threshold for elderly novice people. In response to the requirements, we presented a practice method in which a user plays the keyboard while setting his or her hands on hands of a CG (Computer Graphics) model performance using a half-mirror. This practice method allows even elderly novice people to easily hit the correct keys if the model performance is represented. Then, the elderly novice people might have some room to reflect on their performance independently. The ease of representing correct notes with the proper fingering and having the room to reflect on their performance can provide elderly novice people the motivation to play the keyboard. As a result, they can experience of accomplishment by continuously playing the keyboard.

The aim of this paper is to reveal the influence that the two illusions: "R-V Dynamics Illusion" and "Size-Weight Illusion" have on each other in mixed reality space. R-V Dynamics Illusion is an illusion that affects our perception of weight by superimposing moving virtual liquid on a real object. On the other hand, "Size-Weight Illusion" is a well-known illusion that is related to the perception of weight. It is a phenomenon where we perceive small objects to be heavier than large object even if they have the same mass. In previous research, we confirmed this phenomenon under the condition where the real object and the virtual object are the same size. However, R-V Dynamics Illusion and Size-Weight Illusion happen at the same time is likely when changing the size of the virtual object. Therefore, in this research, we combine two illusions and analyze whether if they cancel each other out or occur simultaneously by subjective experiment and measuring muscle activity. As a result, we confirmed both illusions occurring at the same time, and affecting the perception of weight and muscle activity.

This paper reports on the configuration of a vowel synthesizer, which facilities benefits of inconvenience, and on the experimental results. Allowing users' skill improvements is frequently observed when using inconvenient tools. The present configuration is examined for utilizing voice synthesizers as voice output communication aid (VOCA). It is desirable that VOCA can express not only phonological information but also the users emotion and their personality by using prosodical information. Based on the configuration, we implement an experimental system as a smartphone application. The experimental results shows that the system allows users to become skillful for expressing their emotion and personalities.

This study develops and evaluates EduceBoard which enables students to role-play based on various voices from students through Microteaching. We point out that students are unable to play the diverse roles of children due to psychological inhibition and other factors in microteaching. EduceBoard is a tangible teaching simulation system that assists microteaching by enabling students to play with puppets and to reflect on their play recorded on the server. Research was conducted to compare the normal microteaching and the teaching simulation using EduceBoard, demonstrating that the use of EduceBoard assisted the student teachers in playing diverse roles which were not seen in normal microteaching. It also allowed more thorough reflection and discussion that focused on minor behavior.

We are developing a panel-type robot INAMO as a platform for studying the nature of behaviors and communications in our everyday collaborative plays. In this paper, we proposed novel collaborative play mediated by the INAMOs and evaluated user's activities and preferences for the play. INAMO can charge the kinetic energy by rotating the built-in flywheel and rotate around the corner of electromagnet contacting with other INAMO. Users can control the moving of INAMO using the joystick that can make quick acceleration and breaking of the flywheel. As a collaborative play, users can precede the INAMO's moving by the collaborative and competitive interactions with some frustration. In subjective evaluation experiment, we revealed user's impressions and preferences for INAMO's behaviors and the roles of triadic interactions and sharing goals in the collaborative play with INAMOs.

We are studying human-dependent robots that can organize valuable behaviors in cooperating with human. Sociable Trash Box is one of the human-dependent robots that could not collect the trash by itself, but is capable of collecting it by getting human assistance. To do so, it has to convey its intention to collect the trash by displaying it in various ways such as an attractive motion and bowing. In this study, our focus was to explore how robot's behaviors were capable to convey its intention and a kind of weakness that could not pick up trash itself. Using 9 kinds of videos of robot's behaviors to obtain the subjective ratings through the interface of LimeSurvey, we conducting factor analysis and subjective evaluation to investigate what were the most powerful cues for the robot, and we discussed a kind of weakness of robot.

Evaluation of tear volume is important for diagnosing dry eye disease. At the clinical site, dedicated devices such as Slit-lamp Microscopy or Meniscometry have been used to quantify tear volume by ophthalmologist. However, these devices have access only in medical office and therefore have limited availability for the public. Tear volume changes with environment, physical or psychological situation. For that reason, measurement of tear volume regardless of location, time or circumstances can be beneficial not only for healthcare professionals but also for patients. In this study, feasibility of measuring tear volume using the smartphone was investigated by applying conventional method of Meniscometry.

Pictographs are often used to provide statistical information, because they are easy to understand. They may also have the capacity of making users imagine another user's feeling and may promote a user to change his/her opinion with consideration for others' feelings, because a pictograph sufficiently represents a human's emotion. In our experiment, using a fictitious online opinion exchange system, we confirmed that randomly arranged arrays affect a user's feelings of others and opinion changes more satisfactorily than arranged arrays, when pictographs are used. The additional experiment showed that when characters and face marks were used as icons of pictograph, characters and angry face marks are more effective than rectangle and sad face marks. It is assumed that how an icon images the activity of various people is related to the effect of randomly arranged array for opinion changes and feelings of others.

Shadow is an effective projection for presence of real objects, and has an important role in three-dimensional effects and reality of virtual space. Therefore avatar's shadow would be able to have interactive effects with the avatar itself in a virtual space. In our previous research, we reported that an auto-generated interactive avatar's motion which is different from a talker's own motion does not always enhances human communication. However, by using an avatar-shadow, talkers could communicate smoothly without inconsistency between their own motions and thier avatar's motions in a virtual space, in which the avatar-shadow's motions are expressed by combining the talker's own motions with auto-generated interactive motions. In this paper, we develop an embodied entrainment avatar-shadow system. This system is constructed by talkers' avatars based on their own motions, and their avatar-shadows based on their own motions and auto-generated entrained motions. In addition, we propose three presentation modes for more effective usage of avatar-shadow using this system, and the effectiveness of the presentation mode in which both avatar-shadows are displayed between both avatars on their back wall is confirmed by the preliminary experiment. Furthermore, we perform two kinds of dialogue experiments in daily dialogue for effects of avatar-shadow by sensory evaluation. The first experiment is a role-play experiment in which two subjects have each role as a speaker and a listener. The second one is a free conversation experiment in which two subjects talk about daily life. From the results of the sensory evaluation of the experiments, we demonstrate the effectiveness of avatar-shadow's existence, and auto-generated nodding response.

In our article we try to promote the measurement of four measures for the quantification of social bonding between humans and robots. We use these measures to assess social bonding in the presence of verbal and gestural interactions in 'proactive' and 'reactive' versions of a minimally designed accompanying robot called ROBOMO. The approach aims to measure four factors which are: 'belief', 'attachment', 'commitment' and 'involvement'. This is achieved by assigning different metrics to each of the four different factors. Our proposed approach is evaluated in a human-robot interaction (HRI) study while ROBOMO provides some gestures and produces inarticulate utterances as verbal indicators. As a first step, we try to validate the proposed four measures of social bonding. For that, we compare the social bonding values in the following different conditions: "robot using only gestures", "robot using only verbal behaviors", "robot combining gestural and verbal behaviors". Since it is obvious that combining verbal and gestural behaviors may increase the user's preference of the robot and thus social bonding, the proposed metrics values have to increase in such conditions. We show, based on the results, that indeed, the different four elements measuring social bonding increased in such q condition accordingly, making our measures for the quantification of social bonding reliable. In addition, this also makes our proposed metrics useful for assessing social bonding when we decide to add future behaviors and modifications to the designed robot. For the second step, we selected two types of behavior modes being 'proactive' and 'reactive' and we used our proposed validated different metrics to define which behavior mode may lead to higher social bonding. Based on the results, we show that in the context of a minimally designed accompanying robot, a proactive mode adopted by the robot is preferred over a reactive mode. In fact, it leads to an amelioration of the social bonding.

In order to meet growing air traffic demands in recent years, skilled air traffic controllers are indispensable. Further efficient training of controllers is, therefore, a key issue in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) domain. For supporting controllers' training, the authors have proposed a process visualization method focusing on a major ATC task to establish prescribed in-trail separation between aircraft concerned (that is, in-trail spacing). In this paper, the functionality evaluation of the process visualization method of in-trail spacing is carried out through a detailed analysis of a couple of controllers' working processes derived from a high-fidelity human-in-the-loop simulation. In the analysis, the probable causal factors of the performance differences of the controllers' working processes have been successfully revealed by using the proposed visualization method. This fact indicates the possible applicability and effectiveness of the proposed visualization method as a supporting tool of controllers' training.

Information about the characteristics or impressions of streets is useful to tourists. This paper introduces a strolling support system that utilizes street atmosphere visualization. The system runs on a smartphone and alerts users to the existence of nearby attractive streets and areas by vibration and visualized characterization of streets. For the visualization, subjective evaluation experiments were conducted to investigate the impression of streetscapes in Kyoto. Analysis of the evaluation results revealed three factors that are relevant to street characteristics. Using the factor scores of the evaluated streetscapes, the characteristics are visualized using colours. In user studies, eight participants examined its use while walking around the city. The user studies suggest that the system attracts users' attention to surrounding environments and increases the amount of conversation and photography during their walk.

On the present touchscreens, it is difficult to recognize a screen layout of content without glancing at the screen because of its lack of physical cues. This study focuses on a pressure-sensitive touchscreen, which recently comes into practical use, and presents a set of techniques in which users are able to recognize the screen layout by smartphone vibration and select the layout by pressing it. The results of tracking participants' eye movement during the experimental tasks indicate that the techniques decrease the rate of glancing at the smartphone screen.