Masakazu Miyamae

An information layout method for an optical see-through head mounted display focusing on the viewability

Accessing information when we are on the move is a key feature if mobile computing environments, and using an optical see-through head mounted display (HMD) is one of the most suitable ways to do this. Although the HMD can display information without interfering with the users view, when the sight behind the display is too complex or too bright, the information displayed can bee very difficult to see. To solve this problem, we have created a way of laying out information for the optical see-through HMD. The ideal area for displaying information is determined by evaluating the sight image behind the HMD captured by a pantoscopic camera mounted on it. Moreover, if there is no suitable area for displaying information, our method select involves using the sight image around users use to the ideal direction and instructing them to face the direction. Our method displays information to ideal areas.

Design of a Car Navigation System that Predicts User Destination

Because of advances in information technologies, car navigation systems have come into widespread use as useful tools to guide drivers where they want to go. Conventional car navigation systems present the most suitable route according to a destination input into the system. However, since the required operation to input the destination costs so much, users do not usually use car navigation systems for daily driving. In this paper, to exploit the effective functions of car navigation systems, we propose a new system that automatically predicts user purpose and destination. The proposed car navigation system presents various information based on predicted purpose without interaction from users.

Design and implementation of an extensible rule processing system for wearable computing

In wearable computing environments, a user brings and uses his/her own computer to acquire various services wherever he/she goes. This type of computer, which acts as a service platform for wearable computing, needs autonomy and simplicity of services, flexibility of services/devices configuration, and power saving functions. Since most conventional wearable computing systems do not fulfil all of these requirements, we propose A-WEAR, which is a rule-based wearable computing system. We employ an event-driven rule as a behavior description language of A-WEAR to achieve autonomy and simplicity. Furthermore, we employ a plug-in mechanism to achieve flexibility and power saving. Using our system, we can easily provide and use various services for wearable computing environments.

A ZigBee-based sensor node for tracking people's locations

A sensor network system has been developed for tracking peoples locations in workplaces as part of a ubiquitous network system for providing context-aware services in daily activities. Since the installation of such a sensor is desired any place within its target domain with few limitations, it must operate by battery for a relatively long time, e.g., one month. To satisfy this requirement, we designed a battery-operated sensor node based on ZigBee technology and extended its operation period by developing a flexible sleep control protocol and a high-accuracy time synchronization mechanism between sensor nodes to reduce power consumption. From simulations based on actual data collected, we confirmed that a sensor node located in a hospitals medical ward can work over 21 days using four AA Ni-H batteries.

An event-driven wearable system for supporting motorbike racing teams

Exploiting the latest information is very important for winning a motorbike race. However, it is difficult for a pit crew to acquire the latest information while working. The miniaturization of computers has enabled the creation of wearable computers, which permit users instant, and hands-free access to information. Therefore, we propose a wearable system that supports motorbike racing teams. This system allows pit crew to browse for various race information easily and effortlessly.

Toward Achieving On-Site Programming

Wearable computing, where users can wear computers anywhere and at any time, is slowly becoming a reality because of recent technological advancements. When users access various services in wearable computing environments, they want to define new services by themselves. Therefore, we propose a new framework for constructing context-aware applications in wearable computing environments. Our framework, called Wearable Toolkit, consists of an event-driven rule processing engine and tools to develop applications. By using our framework, we can define and customise services anywhere and at any time. We found our system helps to create context-aware wearable services from the results we obtained by evaluating it.

An Information Layout Method for an Optical See-through HMD Considering the Background

In wearable computing environments, an optical see-through head mounted display (HMD) is one of the most suitable wearable devices for displaying information. Although the HMD can display information without interfering with the users view, the displayed information is difficult to see when the HMD background is too complex or too bright. We have created an information layout method for the optical see-through HMD that takes the background into account. It determines the ideal area for displaying objects by evaluating the HMD background captured by a camera.

A wearable system for supporting pit-crew and audiences on motorbike races

Motorbike racing is one of the most popular motorsports and many fans visit circuits to watch races. However, since audiences and pit crews can only obtain limited information, it is difficult for them to get detailed information about teams except for high ranking teams and few popular teams. To solve this problem, we have already presented an information browsing system for pit crews who used wearable computers. This paper describes an extension to the system. We also applied our system to racing audiences. Since our system can provide various information such as detailed ranking tables and favorite teams, it can make supporting the teams more advantageous and entertain audiences much more.

W@nderland: image-based constructable virtual space on the WWW

The conventional approaches for constructing real-space-based 3D space on the WWW are very costly in initial modeling and in network access in its operation. The image based rendering (IBR) approach focuses on more convenient handling of the real space, but the obtained space is usually constrained by the difficulty in image analysis. As a result, the number of people who use virtual space on the WWW is still limited. In order to relax the modeling cost and the accessing cost through the WWW to let everyone enjoy easy construction and easy browsing of real and attractive virtual space, the authors propose a simple approach where they use scenic images such as those taken by a digital camera without distorting them. In the system, users can browse and construct real and attractive virtual space on the WWW more easily than ever.