In recent years, neurotechnology, the methods of utilizing brain activations based on the fruit of neuroscience, has advanced. Especially, brain-machine/computer interface (BMI/BCI) to provide a direct link between the brain and external devices has been greatly developed. We have developed neurocommunicator system for people with serious motor disabilities to communicate what they think to others using BMI technology. Neurocommunicator is a practical BMI system that interprets the intention in real time based on EEG with a small device and enables the users to convey 512 kinds of message (8*8*8). This system combines the following three core technologies: small wireless EEG amplifier, high-speed and high-accuracy BMI algorithm and user interface for efficient communication. In this study, we compared the performance and fatigue in 4 kinds of methods: two kinds of characters (Japanese character (HIRAGANA) and Chinese characters (LOLO)) and two kinds of pictures (a human face and a house). We used one kind of stimulus in each method (e.g. HIRAGANA:_??__??__??__??_). As a result, our proposed method HIRAGANA, which is simple and familiar to us, is suggested to be the most efficient and fatigue by using the system is not significantly different among 4 methods.

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To investigate sitting comfort is important to decrease fatigue due to long-term sitting on the railway seats. Measurement of deformation within the human body would provide valuable information because the sensory receptor detects internal deformation while sitting. Since it is difficult to measure the deformation within the human body, we utilized Finite Element Method (FEM) to estimate the deformation and stress distribution in the human body. We categorized three kinds of sitting posture, that is, Work posture, Read posture, and Rest posture, by sitting experiments. Based on these results, we developed three FEM models and performed sensory tests. By results of FEM analysis, maximum stress around intervertebral disks at the lumbar vertebrae was found for the Work posture, and minimum stress was observed for the Rest posture. By results of sensory test, increment of pain score at the waist region was the largest on the Work posture, and minimum score was found on the Rest posture. It is considered that increase of stress around the waist region leads to the low back pain while sitting.

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Recently, Kyoto' company “Ichizawa Shinzaburo Hanpu” known by having settled in household trouble have developed the innovative and unique products which there are not in the age of the former Ichizawa Hanpu Industrial. So, it has been offered a lot of their products, such as a patterned bag, a bag by collaboration and so on. However, this company has been setting up the business system which is manufacturing and distribution, and has not had the section of product planning and design in their organization. Therefore, it seems to be difficult for them to do the product development with a change of an era and lifestyle, only based on their customers' feedback. In this study, we analyze their elaborate creation from the viewpoint of Kansei, based on the case study of their business bag development and the interview of their developer who determined the entry of business bag market.

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Japanese Confectionary “Suetomi” is the high level brand in the Kyoto's long-standing companies. This always makes the Japanese sweets a high level in Kyoto, and gets the high appraisal from the parties concerned the master of the tea ceremony , such as “Urasenke.” However, it is possible for their products to be not suitable for the tendency in the age, even if their peculiar value is different from the other companies. Also, there is a possibility that they exposed to the crisis of the business continuance. On the contrary, they offer the products that never betray the customer expectation, and a lot of customers visit their shop from the whole country. In the present study, we present the analysis of Suetomi' management strategy and its strength and differentiation based on the interview of the president Mr. Yamaguchi. After that, we analyze their innovation from the viewpoint of product innovation and Kansei value. Finally, we discuss the design innovation of Kyogashi design based on our studies. In conclusion, Suetomi has a different strong point from the other company as a long-standing company of Kyoto confections and we have understood performing the management strategy which establishes a sustainable competitive advantage using it. Thus, they have performed the design innovation of Kyoto-confections products in the management strategy which is compatible in tradition and innovation, and have created the value of a customer's sensitivity.

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Onomatopoeia refers to words that represent the sound, appearance, or voice of things, which makes it possible to create expressions that bring a scene to life in a subtle fashion. In this paper, we propose an onomatopoeia thesaurus map to enable the construction of a map that visually confirms “similarity relationships between a number of onomatopoetic words” and “similarity relationships between unknown onomatopoetic words and existing onomatopoetic words,” which are difficult to grasp from a conventional thesaurus. It is also possible to label objects with onomatopoetic words and visualize the similarity relationships between the objects on a map. In this paper, we introduce an example of labeling onomatopoetic words relating to the textures of sweets (desserts).

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In this study, we have examined the objective phenomenon and mechanism of Place “Brand Recall” by a DRM paradigm which mainly used in psychological study of False Memory. In experiment, the participants have learned about local resources name lists which do not contain the local place name and some major resources. And after some questionnaire task, they have answered recognition test which consist of list presented words, non-presented place relation words and non-presented non-relation words. As a result, in spite of not having been displayed in learning phase, participants have reported the existence of non-presented Place name and other local resources as False Memory, but non-relation words not reported. The result of experiment shows that occurence of False Memory means the strong convergent associations of local resources with place name.

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In this research, we show how public information symbols should be improved for easy understanding by hearing-impaired (HI) persons. We conducted two investigations to clarify how HI persons interpret the meaning of pictograms, and the relationship they form between meanings and shapes. First, we asked HI students and hearing students the meaning of public information symbols. Second, we asked HI students to modify the pictograms they often misunderstood. It is thought that HI children and students have difficulty grasping things abstractly. Our results show that HI persons tend to literally link shapes to meanings. For example, they misunderstood the symbol for “No admittance” as “Keep moving” or “No Males.” And they modified this symbol to show a person entering a doorway or stepping over a fence or line. Pictograms generally convey broad meanings and implications by their symbolic iconography. However, our research reveals that HI persons have difficulty interpreting broad meanings from a concrete shape.

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In recent years, the media develops rapidly, and various media comes up. In the IT (Information-Technology) society, visual information exists a lot. In this situation, mosaic processing is used to hide the image information that must not be understood. However, mosaic, depending on conditions of processing and viewing distance, has a problem such as understanding processed images by mosaic. In this paper, we investigate conditions of understanding Japanese character images under mosaic processing. In addition, we perform visual experiments of the character images for anti-aliasing processing, geometric patterns and contrast.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the observers' impression related to reality when they view an approaching baton with spin that is simulated in a virtual reality system. Twelve participants viewed the approaching virtual baton with no-spin and spin under monoscopic and stereoscopic display settings. They then rated their senses of stereoscopic effects, speed, dynamics, and discomfort on a visual analog scale. The results showed that the baton spin and the stereoscopic display setting enhanced the sense of a stereoscopic effect. The baton spin also increased the observers' sense of speed. Further, the stereoscopic display setting induced a higher sense of dynamics than the monoscopic display setting. These findings suggested that the impression related to reality for an approaching virtual baton was enhanced by the stereoscopic display and by the existence of spin in a virtual reality system.

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