Takayoshi Kitamura

Development of Methods to Enhance Staff Members’ Chats in Refresh Areas in Workplaces for Encouraging Their Knowledge Sharing

The purpose of this study is to develop the method to encourage organizational members to chat with each other in a refresh area in workplace for fostering their knowledge sharing. First, authors focused on their chat-topics and developed the method to induce their chats on expected topics with applying a big-sized display. The result of the experiment to examine the effectiveness of proposed method showed that the proposed method would be effective on members familiar with each other, on the other hand not effective on members unfamiliar with each other. Next, authors looked the problem that unfamiliar members hardly talk to each other in a refresh room, and developed the method to encourage members to talk with unfamiliar members each other with applying smile recognition and a display. The pilot experiment to examine the effectiveness of that method was conducted and the expected effects were observed in some extent. Furthermore, some improvable points of the experimental procedures were found.

Experimental Verification of Sightseeing Information as a Weak Trigger to Affect Tourist Behavior

In this research, we verify information of sightseeing spots as a weak trigger which gives strolling tourists a chance to change their behaviors but does not specify the spot in a recommendation system. In a general recommendation system, the system provides complete piece of information about recommended spots. However, the provided information may deprive users of opportunities to discover interesting something by themselves. On the other hand, if no information is recommended to tourists, they may stroll in a restricted area because they have no hints of unfamiliar area. To reveal an appropriate information solving the above problems, we focus on the amount of information provided to users. Information about sightseeing spots is classified into the position and the feature information of a spot. For each information, we define the four categories of information according to the amount of information. We conducted the experiment with some subjects, and analyzed the impact on the information of these categories.

The Proposal of Cognitive Support for Driver by Voice Guide Using Soliloquy Expression

In a car navigation system, a voice guidance system is equipped to ensure the safety of driving. On the other hand, a driver requires a certain period of time to understanding instructions from the voice guidance and may misjudge them. To solve these problems, we propose a new expression (SVN) process of the voice guidance based on drivers’ soliloquy. When drivers confirm a point to turn or a distance to the point based on the voice guidance, they quite often make correspondence the expressions of the guidance to their own expressions. Such the expression in the brain of a driver is expected to be similar to the soliloquy type expression of the driver. We assume that the soliloquy expression of the guidance will be understandable easier than the conventional expression. We conducted the experiment on the driving simulator to verify our hypothesis. The results suggest that SVN decreases the time for understanding the instruction and the frequency of misjudgment.

Effect of Animated and Non-animated Pictograms for a Non-lingual Disaster Management Application

The creation of tools that can be used by the people in case of disaster, had been our main topic since two years ago. We created a system that generated aid links between the communities of people interconnected inside a Social Network Service. The system provides them gives the opportunity to start the relief efforts in advance and in a well organized way. As part of this platform, it is necessary the creation of a user front application. We always kept in mind that this platform should be easy to use. This may be possible with the use of a non-lingual interface with the help of a set of pictograms that should be related to the disaster field. These pictograms were collected, evaluated and animated to enhance their concept. In this paper, we will discuss about all the process that was conducted to get the set of pictograms that will be used in our user interface.

A Simulation System of Experience with a Disaster by Locating Memories on a Virtual Space

This study proposes a simulation system to improve awareness of disaster risks for a stranded commuter who is unable to get home from school, work, and the like. It shares the recollections of stranded commuters during a past disaster. The simulation system also presents a scenario for considering potential risks and making appropriate decisions. It takes advantage of the disaster experiences of others and shares them in a virtual space to promote disaster awareness. The system is expected to raise disaster awareness and preparation and allow people to take detailed disaster-avoidance measures.

Proposal for a System of Mutual Support Among Passengers Trapped Inside a Train

The Japanese railway system has the greatest accuracy and safety in the world, with a low frequency of delays and a small number of accidents. However, even in such a railway system, a train must sometimes make an urgent stop in emergencies, as a result of an earthquake or other accidents. Most railroad companies have a safety measure in which a train must make an urgent stop in order to confirm safety during emergencies. In the worst cases, passengers have been trapped in a train for a period greater than 24 h. In such a situation, some passengers, such as the elderly or pregnant women, may suddenly become ill, as a result of chronic illnesses, poor conditions, or stress due to the tense situation. In case of emergencies, the limited number of crewmembers on a train are not able to deal with passengers efficiently. Therefore, we suggest an extempore community formation system for passengers who are trapped inside a train in order to promote mutual support during an emergency. Results of an evaluation experiment reveal the usability of the proposed system.

A Supporting System for Emergency Vehicles Dispatching Planning Under a Disaster Situation

Japan is an earthquake-prone country; however, it is also affected by other types of disasters such as typhoons, floods, volcanoes, and landslides. These disasters cause significantly severe damage in affected areas. During large disaster events, the fire departments of affected areas are expected to bring help to these areas. Unfortunately, the number of emergency vehicles and firefighters are limited. Therefore, if emergency calls are handled in a first-in first-out manner, the ability to respond to all calls is compromised. Thus, in order to consider the priority of calls based on the best strategies, call triage is discussed in this study. Call triage requires a thorough investigation of possible situations; however, as a variety of situations exist, investigation on paper is difficult. This study proposes a support system for emergency vehicle dispatch planning using the best call triage. The effectiveness of the system is verified through subject experiment.

Development of Tidy-up Promotion System by Anthropomorphication of Shared Space

Although it is important for our daily lives and works to keep things tidy and in order, it is difficult to always keep it especially in the shared space because it is unclear who has the responsibility. In this study, therefore, a method to persuade them to change their daily behaviors has been proposed from the concept of Ambient Intelligence. In order to realize the method, a system has been developed to encourage them to keep things tidy and in order by personifying the shared space. The personified system expresses its emotions in response to the degree of the disorder. The system consists of (1) a disorder estimation function from the captured image of the shared space by a camera, (2) an emotion creation function of the personified space by the transition of the disorder, and (3) an emotion expression function in appropriate timing. In addition, a case study had been conducted for 31 days to evaluate the system in a student room of a laboratory. As the result, the longer they stayed in the room, the more they watched the messages of the personified room, and improved their consciousness and habituation of keeping the room in order. However, the users who rarely stayed in the room did not improve the habituation.

Feed-In Tariff Personal Carbon Allowance: A Case Study of Psychological Change

The scheme of Personal Carbon Allowance (PCA) system which has been under discussion in United Kingdom is one of the innovative policies which have the potential to solve energy and climate issues. The authors have been proposed Feed-in Tariff PCA (FIT-PCA) as a suitable policy for Japan. The main purpose of this scheme is to encourage citizens to manage their CO2 emissions from their daily lives, furthermore, it is expected to improve their attitudes to global environmental issues. In the psychological model to express their behavioral changes, it is assumed that the experience of FIT-PCA causes loss aversion, goal setting and eudaimonia, and they change their life styles to pro-environmental ones. In this study, a case study has been conducted for half a year in cooperation with 30 households to investigate the validity of the model and the change of their energy reduction behaviors and attitudes to global environmental issues.