Kazunori Shimamura

Collaborative learning system providing interactive lesson through tablet PCs on WLAN

We propose the implementation of a new learning environment that can utilize the computer for things as basic as taking lecture notes in a conventional lecture. Though active learning is visible to the user, as computers have become ubiquitous, they will support the teacher during a lecture and the student in the class. We aim to nurture motivation for learning, study skills, cooperativeness, and a sense of responsibility as an engineer. Our goal is to realize and practice a computer supported learning system that cultivates a faculty for active learning. This paper discusses the practice of a new collaborative learning system, which helps students study actively anywhere on campus. This system realizes a new computer supported interactive and collaborative learning system for dynamically providing an interactive lesson to each student. We have distributed a tablet PC to all students for their individual use. The system is composed of tablet PCs, a server machine, and software realizing collaboration between the tablet PCs over our WLAN. In the system, the tablet PCs for teachers and students are interactively connected through a server using WLAN, which covers our campus.

Development of a web browser based interface to assist numerical calculations

A Web browser based interface that specialized in numerical calculation was developed. It includes functions to set parameters, execute calculations and display results for numerical calculations. The calculation result is put in a database, so we can browse, sort or search the results by a variety of keywords. It allows us to share the results with other users. Our intent is to provide an efficient means for setting parameters and result analysis. In this system, Web clients can use the interface on any platform and there is no load for the client side, because PHP scripts on the server handle all of the processes for numerical calculation. Moreover, a Web browser interface for mobile phones was developed to browse the calculation results practically and to reduce idle computer time. It is possible to set parameters and execution through the special Web form for mobile phones. In addition to this, the server informs the mobile phone user when the calculation is finished. Through this process, we realized effective utilization of computer resources.

Application of packet assembly technology to digital video and VoIP

The Internet is composed of many kinds of networks and the networks are composed of network nodes such as routers. Routers use processor power for forwarding each packet with any size. At that time, node processor would be a bottleneck in respect to the high throughput if there would be too many packets to forward. Then, authors propose the packet assembly method. This aims to decrease the number of packets for the reduction of processor load, based on the fact that there are many packets much smaller than maximum transferable unit in backbone network. For the examination of the packet assembly, authors conducted two experiments. One is the experiment that conducts the packet assembly method for the traffic of digital video, and it provides the comparison of the image of digital video forwarded via routers without packet assembly with the one with packet assembly, and transition of edge router load and core router load. The other is the experiment that conducts the packet assembly method for the traffic of VoIP, and investigated about the influence on PSQM score, latency, and jitter.

Window Control Interface to Attract Teacher’s Gaze Area for Watching a Reaction of Remote Learners

We have developed the TERAKOYA learning system, which helps students study actively anywhere on a local area network (LAN) linked to multipoint remote users. However, if many students frequently sent their questions to the teacher, it is very difficult to correspond to quickly answer that for the teacher. In addition, the teacher hardly clarifies how much each student understood because he cannot watch students’ face and reaction. This paper discusses the graphical user interface (GUI) system that is used a little ingenuity to prioritize students’ screens through variably changing the GUI interface on the teacher’s PC. The aspect of window that was displayed as thumbnails of the students’ PC screen was zoomed dynamically each thumbnail by their understanding level. By sorting out their priorities on the teacher’s PC screen, the teacher can timely observe the students’ work and support their thinking process.

A communicator vista image generation with an overlaid location indicator for the Virtual Window System

The spatial connection system called the Virtual Window System has proposed as a communication system between remote places. Virtual Window System uses a vista image display called the virtual window. The virtual window assumes a metaphor of window between two neighbored rooms. The displayed scene image of VW is changed by shifting view position and view height. In this article, a new position sensing for changed scene image of VW is proposed. In this proposed method, the face sensing is performed by detecting a communicators skin colors domain obtained by the camera image. The position of communicator can be guessed a three value by the view position and the view height. These values are calculated by using the face domain and the center of gravity of the face domain which are extracted by skin color detection. The location information of a communicator within the communication room calculated by the position sensing is used for viewpoint image generation. In addition, the location information of a communicator is used for computer graphics generation. The receiving communicators spatial and communicators positions are drawn in computer graphics. The error of calculated value by the proposed method and the real location of the communicator is evaluated. And, it is shown that the proposed method is practicable through the evaluation.

The network management scheme for effective consolidation of RFID-tag standards

The RFID tag sensor networks have been developed as the new infrastructure which might bring the next generation ubiquitous networking. However, the RFID network has diffculty of the effective mutual communication with another RFID network, because plural standards coexist for RFID tags. To solve this diffculty, the RNI Standard has been proposed as the network management method which enables the consolidation among the RFID tag standards. The RNI Standard originally proposed was unfortunately insuffcient for the smooth communication. This study analyses the problems of the RNI Standard. And the Operational Platform based on the standard is newly proposed with the verification of its expandability and practicality. The proposed scheme introduces the RFID tag separation processing environment. The proposed management scheme would be useful for the coming applications utilizing the plural RFID tag standards.

Reliable partner system always providing users with companionship through video streaming

This paper presents a basic configuration of a system that provides dynamic delivery of full-motion video while following target users in ubiquitous computing environments. The proposed system is composed of multiple computer displays with radio frequency identification (RFID) tag readers, which are automatically connected to a network via IP, and RFID tags worn by users and some network servers. We adopted a passive tag RFID system. The delivery of full-motion video uses adaptive broadcasting. The system can continuously deliver streaming data, such as full-motion video, to the display, through the database and the streaming server on the network, moving from one display to the next as the user moves through the network. Because it maintains the information about the users location in real time, it supports the user wherever he or she is, without requiring a conscious request to obtain their information. This paper describes a prototype implementation of this framework and a practical application.

OPR-LENS: Operation-Lens System for Supporting a Manipulation of Information Appliances

This paper describes how to mount a new pointing device by which users, who have an existing metaphor for using information appliances, can effectively apply that including Personal Computer (PC). We propose the system wearing the operation lens support, which is called ”OPR-LENS (Operation-Lens)”. The OPR-LENS system is composed of the OPR-LENS module and the OPR-LENS device, and mounted on the server and the viewer software connected via TCP/IP, respectively. The OPR-LENS device forms a temple block suitable for a palm operation. Users’ manipulation can be effectively supported by the effect of the spherical lens with the partial GUI image. This research investigates the evaluation of the OPR-LENS system through mounting a prototype system and implementing the performance evaluation experiment. In addition, the application example when applying to the existing metaphor such as information appliances was shown in this paper.

STUDY OF VIDEO-ON-DEMAND SYSTEM USING NARROW BAND ISDN

Abstract Despite the progress being made with digital transmission technology, conventional visual communication services such as teleconferencing and videophones are still far from commonplace. Demand is currently growing for advanced visual information services such as video on demand (VOD). In this paper, we propose an ISDN basic-rate interface visual communication service and describe a new VOD system providing such a service along with the technologies it uses for multiplexing and providing high picture quality. The proposed system allows visual services to be provided flexibly and at low cost. The proposed coding-parameter control techniques result in superior picture quality.

A Synchronous Multimedia Communication System Over N-ISDN

The advent of digitized network system and high performance / low cost WS/PCs has made it possible to perform office tasks more and more efficiently. It enabled us to develop a Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) system as a working environment.