Keiichi Muramatsu

Motion assistance apparatus enabled for neuro-rehabilitation of patients and for the promotion of exercise for the elderly

We developed a motion assistance apparatus which can be used for neuro-rehabilitation of patients and for the promotion of exercise for the elderly. This apparatus assists only the ankle joints of the equipped person according to the posture of him/her while walking, getting up, sitting, and standing. By using this apparatus, the dorsiflexion and plantarflexion of the ankle joint of the equipped person can increase while walking. Therefore, this apparatus can prevent stumbling and promote walking and various motions.

A walking promotion method using the tuning of a beat sound based on a two-dimensional emotion map

We proposed a method that promotes walking which uses a two-dimensional emotion map. In this method, a subject listened to a beat sound while walking. The beat was adjusted according to the condition of the subject, based on his/her comfortable walking frequency. Simultaneously, the walking velocity, the stride length, and the heart beat of the subject while walking was measured, and LF/HF was calculated from the result of measured heart beat. Furthermore, we asked them to give information on the condition of their feelings, from pleasant or not by 5 levels in each case of the beat sound. By using these data, a two-dimensional walking condition map and two-dimensional emotion map were made and we found the relation between these two maps. Therefore, according to the emotional condition of the targeted person while walking, this method can promote or restrain walking adequately, only adjusting the beat sound.

Development of a walking assistance apparatus for gait training and promotion of exercise

We developed a walking assistance apparatus which can be used for gait training of neuro-rehabilitation for patients and for the promotion of exercise for the elderly. This apparatus assists only the ankle joints of the equipped person according to the posture of him/her while not only walking, but also getting up, sitting, and standing. By using this apparatus, the dorsiflexion and plantarflexion of the ankle joint of the equipped person can increase while walking. This apparatus can improve of the equipped persons gait.

A Method for Consensus Building Between Teachers and Learners in Higher Education Through Co-design Process

Improving added value and productivity of services entails improving both value-in-exchange and value-in-use. Value-in-use is realized by value co-creation, where providers and receivers create value together. In higher education services, value-in-use comes from learners achieving learning outcomes (e.g., knowledge and skills) that are consistent with their learning goals. To enhance the learning outcomes of a learner, it is necessary to enhance and utilize the abilities of the teacher along with the abilities of the learner. To do this, however, the learner and the teacher need to build a consensus about their respective roles. Teachers need to provide effective learning content; learners need to choose the appropriate learning strategies by using the learning content through consensus building. This makes consensus building an important factor in value co-creation. However, methods to build a consensus about their respective roles may not be clearly established, making such consensus difficult. In this paper, we propose some strategies for consensus building between a teacher and a learner in value co-creation. We focus on a teacher and learner co-design and propose an analysis method to clarify a collaborative design process to realize value co-creation. We then analyze some counseling data obtained from a university class. This counseling aimed to build a consensus for value-in-use, learning outcomes, and learning strategies between the teacher and the learner.

Study of RE-Gait® as the Device That Promotes Walking Using a Two-Dimensional Emotion Map

We developed a walking assistance apparatus RE-Gait® for not only the elderly but also apoplexy patients, which assist the ankle joint of the equipped person. By only assisting the ankle joint, the equipped person’s leg can be raised. To keep up the user’s motivation for exercise using this apparatus, it is necessary to assist not only physically but also mentally. Therefore we suggested the new method of promotion walking, using the walking assistance apparatus while listening to the beat sound, which was adjusted according to a two-dimensional emotion map. In this paper, the relation between emotion map and walking condition map is shown.

Framework to describe constructs of academic emotions using ontological descriptions of statistical models

Many studies have been conducted during the last two decades examining learner reactions within e-learning environments. In an effort to assist learners in their scholastic activities, these studies have attempted to understand a learner’s mental states by analyzing participants’ facial images, eye movements, and other physiological indices and data. To add to this growing body of research, we have been developing the intelligent mentoring system (IMS), which performs automatic mentoring by using an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) to scaffold learning activities and an ontology to provide a specification of learner’s models. To identify learner’s mental states, the ontology operates on the basis of the theoretical and data-driven knowledge of emotions. In this study, we use statistical models to examine constructs of emotions evaluated in previous psychological studies and then produce a construct of academic boredom. In concrete terms, we develop ontological descriptions of academic boredom that are represented with statistical models. To evaluate the validity and utility of the descriptions, we conduct an experiment to obtain subjective responses regarding learners’ academic emotions in their university course and describe them as instances on the basis of the ontological descriptions.

Development of Ontology Toward Common Understanding of Human Sensibilities and Emotions

With the ongoing development of information and communications technology, it is apparent that computers will be indispensable partners in future human life. In terms of computer information processing, techniques for coordinating human sensitivity and emotional levels are attracting attention and stand in contrast to conventional knowledge information processing. In this chapter, we present an overview of content-oriented research considering knowledge itself and describe an approach to handling knowledge of human sensitivity and emotions using computers. First, we provide an overview of existing content-oriented studies in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Second, we discuss problems regarding the handling of knowledge of human sensibilities and emotions. Then, we introduce an ontology pertaining to the concept of color emotion as an approach to understanding human sensibilities and emotions. Finally, we describe the applicability of such an ontology to human–computer interactions and for the understanding of human nature through the concept of analysis-by-synthesis.

Study on Estimation of Driver’s State During Automatic Driving Using Seat Pressure

The development of an automatic driving system is accompanied by the increasing importance of driver monitoring. It is necessary to estimate the state of the driver including actions with less load on the driver. In this study, we used the seat pressure as an indicator to assess the status of a driver. In the experiment, we measured the seat pressure during automatic operation under the designated state (forward gaze, cell phone use and sleeping) of the driver. Characteristic changes in the center of gravity position of the driver were confirmed during cell phone use and sleeping. Subsequently, we evaluated seating surface pressure data by calculating the accuracy of state estimation using machine learning. The results show that the accuracy of estimation corresponded to 76.8% in the overall evaluation. This suggests that it is possible to estimate the state of the driver during automatic driving using seat pressure.

Evaluation of Legibility and Visual Fatigue Caused by Luminescent Text Displays

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are widely used for backlighting text indicators in vehicles. It is desirable that such text indicators have high legibility and low fatigue-inducing qualities. Suitable spectral distributions for text presentation in vehicles have not yet been clarified. This study examined legibility and fatigue when participants read Japanese sentences presented through backlight emission for 10 min in a dark room. The backlight indicators employed four type of white LEDs. The participants were asked to answer questionnaires to evaluate legibility and fatigue. Moreover, the critical fusion frequency and brain activity were measured to evaluate fatigue objectively. The questionnaire results show that all colored backlighting displayed almost an equal legibility. The overall result suggests that participants were most and least fatigued when viewing text illuminated by high color-rending and greenish white backlighting, respectively. Thus, fatigue can be reduced using LEDs with different spectral distributions.

Influence of VR-Based Slope Images on Walking Pattern

In this paper, we proposed a walking training system in which a trainee walks on a treadmill while viewing virtual reality (VR) images using head mounted display (HMD) for the purpose of developing a more continuous and effective walking training. Furthermore, the walking patterns when walking on the treadmill while viewing VR images of walking on a slope and level ground were determined and compared. Consequently, the braking force when viewing a VR image that walking on a downward slope was larger than when walking without viewing a VR image. Therefore, the same tendency as walking on an actual downward slope was obtained when subjects walked while viewing a downward slope image, and it was shown that the walking pattern can be changed by the proposed walking training system.