Ishiguro Hiroshi

Automatic Categorization of Haptic Interactions -What are the Typical Haptic Interactions Between a Human and a Robot?

If a communication robot could have the same capability of haptic interaction as humans do, the robot would give us greater familiarity, thus shortening its communicative distance from people. To achieve such a robot, this paper proposes a method for categorizing haptic interactions between a human and a robot by using tactile sensors embedded in the soft skin covering the robots entire body. In this method, each haptic interaction can be represented by a sequence of data points recorded from the tactile sensors. We first consider all experimental data points and map them into clusters. Next, we represent each individual haptic interaction as a sequence of those clusters. Finally, by calculating a distance function between each of these sequences of clusters, we can determine a hierarchical structure that naturally groups similar haptic interactions into categories. In the hierarchical structure, the haptic interactions are classified mainly based on the region of touching (e.g., head and arm) at the top side of the structure and the manner of touching (e.g., slap and stroke) at the bottom side of the structure. By using this hierarchical structure, the robot can categorize haptic interactions based simultaneously on the region of its body touched and on the manner of touching. The constructed hierarchical structure will also make the robot aware of the categorized regions and the categorized manners of touching that are typically observed in haptic communication between a human and a robot. Consequently, this capability will lead to more human-like communication. To confirm the validity of this method, we conducted human-robot communication experiments using 284 subjects. As a result, we clarified that the manner of touching depends on the region of touching.

Appearance, motion, and embodiment: unpacking avatars by fine-grained communication analysis

Thanks to the maturity of motion tracking technologies, it became easy and inexpensive to use avatars that reflect the users facial and body motions in real time. There is a possibility that those real‐time avatars can serve as a substitute for videos in distant communication. We conducted two experiments to confirm positive effects of avatars on distant communication. In the first experiment, the subjects watched a conversation partners video, avatar, photo, or nothing when speaking to the partner. Because the video and avatar delivered the partners motion while the video and photo delivered the partners appearance, we were able to observe the effects of the motion and appearance separately. As a result, we found that presenting the motion via a video or an avatar increased the degree of the smoothness of speaking to the partner, but the appearance did not significantly affect such an influence. In the second experiment, we compared the avatar and teleoperated robot to find how a physical embodiment influences the degree of the smoothness of speech. Teleoperated robots resemble avatars in transmitting the users body motions without disclosing the users appearance but differ in reflecting these motions onto a robot that has a physical embodiment. We predicted that the robot produces smoother speech because the physical embodiment might make the body motions recognizable. However, the robot decreased the degree of the smoothness of speech against our expectation. The results of these experiments showed that real‐time avatars that present only body motions are enough to smooth distant communication. Copyright

Comparative studies on microsomal NADPH-cytochrome p-450 reductase using a monoclonal antibody: Tissue distribution, specific activity and peptide mapping

Abstract 1. 1. In order to elucidate the molecular structure and the distribution of the enzyme in different microsomes, specific antibodies have been developed against rabbit liver NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase. 2. 2. The monoclonal antibody (MAb B1) against rabbit liver reductase cross-reacted well with reductases from various animal species and those from various tissues of the rabbit. 3. 3. NADPH-cytochrome P -450 reductase from rabbit tissues such as liver, lung, adrenal gland, kidney and polymorphonuclear leukocyte were closely related in structure and antigenic properties, in addition to having similar catalytic properties. 4. 4. No multiple forms of the reductase in the rabbit were observed in liver nor in other tissues.

How does a Balancing Motion of a Humanoid Robots Affect a Human Motion and Impression

In this paper, we evaluate how the balancing motion of a humanoid robot affects human swaying and their impresions. A humanoid robot that has a dynamic balancing controller maintains its balance and sways. We believe such body swaying is important for communication robots to appear similar to humans. To verify the validity of the motion, we conducted experiments with our developed humanoid robot which has wheeled inverted pendulum mechanism. In the experiment, we established five object conditions for a subject to face: (1) a human, (2) a robot in an inverted pendulum state, (3) a robot with passive casters, and (4) an LCD monitor with its power turned off. Condition (2) was divided a normal inverted pendulum state and a humanlike swaying inverted pendulum state. We discovered congruences between subject and robot body swaying, the impressions of the robot changes, and the effects of robot body swaying on subjects. If we can clarify why subjects experience congruence with the robot, the fundamental indicator for natural communication between humans and robots will be confirmed. In this research, we reported that robot swaying affects human body swaying and impressions. Moreover, we showed that congruence was effective for communications between humans and a humanoid robot.In this paper, we evaluate how the balancing motion of a humanoid robot affects human swaying and their impressions. A humanoid robot that has a dynamic balancing controller maintains its balance and sways. We believe such body swaying is important for communication robots to appear similar to humans. To verify the validity of the motion, we conducted experiments with our developed humanoid robot which has wheeled inverted pendulum mechanism. In the experiment, we established five object conditions for a subject to face: (1) a human, (2) a robot in an inverted pendulum state, (3) a robot with passive casters, and (4) an LCD monitor with its power turned off. Condition (2) was divided a normal inverted pendulum state and a humanlike swaying inverted pendulum state. We discovered congruences between subject and robot body swaying, the impressions of the robot changes, and the effects of robot body swaying on subjects. If we can clarify why subjects experience congruence with the robot, the fundamental indicator for natural communication between humans and robots will be confirmed. In this research, we reported that robot swaying affects human body swaying and impressions. Moreover, we showed that congruence was effective for communications between humans and a humanoid robot