Lecture by Prof. Masahiko Inami of the Graduate School of Media Design, Keio University and tour of Empowerment Studio by Keio University graduate students held
On Monday, July 13, 2015, Prof. Masahiko Inami of the Graduate School of Media Design, Keio University visited the Empowerment Studio to present a lecture on the subject “Empowerment Technologies to Realize the Augmented Human,” as part of the Fifth Meeting of the EMP Seminar Series.
Later, Keio University graduate students from Prof. Inami’s courses visited the Empowerment Studio for a tour. The tour featured a demonstration by Ph.D. Program in Empowerment Informatics (EMP) Program Leader Prof. Hiroo Iwata of “Big Robot” and the “Torus Treadmill and Rear Dome” in the Grand Gallery. During this demonstration, the visitors were able to experience these projects hands on. They also experienced Large Space, the world’s largest virtual reality (VR) space.
Prof. Inami experiences “Big Robot”
Visiting students experience the “Torus Treadmill and Rear Dome” and Large Space
Later, they moved to the research building, where in the Nomad-type Laboratory Assistant Prof. Masakazu Hirokawa explained the “Robot Mask,” Prof. Iwata summarized the EMP program, EMP second-year student Jun Nishida explained “CHILDHOOD,” the work that won first prize overall in IVRC2014, and Prof. Hideaki Kuzuoka described “Telepresence robot which presents head and body orientations” and “Tangible Earth System with Augmented Reality Enhancement”. After that, the devices were demonstrated and the visitors had opportunities to experience them.
Presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on experience in the Nomad-type Laboratory
In addition, in the Showroom Laboratory second-year student Kosuke Aita of the Ph.D. program in the VR laboratory demonstrated the Robot Tile, which is on permanent display there, and let the visitors experience it. Also, Prof. Makoto Itoh described the Driver Assistance Simulator as well as demonstrating it and giving the visitors an opportunity to experience it too.
Demonstrations and hands-on experience in the Showroom Laboratory
After the tour, a meeting was held to exchange information on technologies. This proved a valuable opportunity to interact and exchange opinions with Prof. Inami and the graduate students from Keio University, who got to experience a wide range of projects still in the research stages.