It is important to discuss and share our long-term vision for the progress of science and technology in Japan. In JSAP, we have been working on the vision map for the future of applied physics (academic roadmap). This map is discussed for the purpose of providing visions for existing research fields/new research fields, developing communication tools between academia and industry/government, and promoting young researchers. A working group for the academic roadmap was started inside the future-strategy committee of JSAP. In this paper, we introduce the basic policy and planned strategy for the academic roadmap, as well as show the future vision maps in 19 research fields.

The present status of soft actuators based on ionic conducting polymers, dielectric elastomers, conducting polymers, and polymer gels is briefly reviewed. The characteristics of movement and work behavior along with their merits and demerits are discussed for these actuators. In particular, studies on the electrochemomechanical deformation, work behavior, and energy conversion efficiency of conducting polypyrrole polymers are reported.

A CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) image sensor can be integrated with signal processing functions on a chip. Such smart CMOS image sensors enable the development of wide variety of applications such as in robot vision, automobiles, security, surveillance, and in biomedical applications. In this paper, the author describes the recent development of smart CMOS image sensors for robot vision. Also retinal prosthesis devices are discussed as one of their bioelectronic applications.

Recently, the research and development of polymer actuators has progressed remarkably, the performance of the polymer actuator has improved greatly, and the development of new products using the polymer actuator is progressing.

The basic research and development of a nursing-care robot for people with high social needs is in progress. The robot uses a polymer actuator, which has the features of small size, lightness, and flexibility. The actuator also produces no sound and can operate at a high power with low electric power consumption.

Although the development of thermoelectric materials has a long history, novel oxide materials have only recently been explored mainly in Japan, and their potential is now recognized worldwide. In this article, the author describes the current status and the future potential for newly created SrTiO₃-based n-type thermoelectric materials.

We first developed a sixaxis force sensor in 1985 as part of a joint venture with JR3, Inc. and also developed a film pressure distribution sensor in a joint project with Tekscan, Inc. We then fabricated a sensor system that can sense both force and pressure which has been applied for various uses. We have been participating in the transfer of technology from university departure as part of the consignment development project of the Ministry of Economy for several years, and a new development involving the miniaturization of the sixaxis force sensor with a new structure and based on new principles has been carried out. We introduce the background to this new development by the commodity group and its prospects for the future.

Neuron cells constitute the information-transmitting wiring and are the arithmetic elements of a living body. A neural interface is a device that acts as an information mediator between the neuron cells and artificial instruments. The development of a neural interface requires both the interface itself and a device that mimics a living body to evaluate whether or not the interface can mediate the neural information adequately. In this review, I introduce two unique technologies and their wide possibilities−the high-performance cell membrane perforation method and the legged robot “Whitegoat”, which has a high mobility and load-carrying capacity, along with the background to realizing an ideal neural interface consisting of an intracellular and integrated electrode array.

A tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR)-based logic circuit, called TMR logic, is proposed to implement a standby power-free LSI. Various typical applications of LSIs are implemented using TMR logic, and its usefulness is demonstrated in comparison with the corresponding CMOS-based implementation.

Thanks to the recent rapid development of high-speed computers, the nonempirical theoretical calculation of optical spectra for rare-earth-doped phosphors, which is a large-scale calculation requiring the simultaneous consideration of relativistic and many-body effects, can be now carried out in a practical time. Such calculations are expected to accelerate the theoretical design of materials. In this paper we introduce our recent achievements in the first-principles calculations of optical spectra for rare-earth-doped phosphors.

The electrical conductance of a single molecule is strongly affected by the microscopic structure of the molecule/metal contact. In this paper, we briefly review recent studies and techniques used for the conductivity measurement of metal/single-molecule/metal junctions.