Takayuki Shimotomai

Playmate robots that can act according to a child's mental state

We propose a playmate robot system that can play with a child. Unlike many therapeutic service robots, our proposed playmate system is implemented as a functionality of the domestic service robot with a high degree of freedom. This implies that the robot can play high-level games with children, i.e., beyond therapeutic play, using its physical features. The proposed system currently consists of ten play modules, including a chatbot with eye contact, card playing, and drawing. The algorithms of these modules are briefly discussed in this paper. To sustain the players interest in the system, we also propose an action-selection strategy based on a transition model of the childs mental state. The robot can estimate the childs state and select an appropriate action in the course of play. A portion of the proposed algorithms was implemented on a real robot platform, and experiments were carried out to design and evaluate the proposed system.

Physical embodied communication between robots and children: An approach for relationship building by holding hands

The influence of holding hands on the relationship building process between children and robots is investigated in this study. In particular, at the first meeting, it is difficult for a child to be open if he/she starts to rebuff the robot partner. This significantly degrades the possibility of the child forming a friendship relationship with the robot. Thus, the initial approach of the robot to the child in the early stage of the relationship building process should be appropriate. We hypothesize that physical embodied communication, such as walking hand in hand, improves the relationship between children and robots. A holding hands system was implemented in a real robot, and an experiment was conducted at a kindergarten to validate our hypothesis. The results strongly support our hypothesis.

Toward playmate robots that can play with children considering personality

It is difficult to design robotic playmates for introverted children. Therefore, we examined how a robot should play with such shy children. In this study, we hypothesized and tested an effective play strategy for building a good relationship with shy children. We conducted an experiment with 5- to 6-year-old children and a humanoid robot teleoperated by a preschool teacher. We developed a valid play strategy for shy children.

Model of strategic behavior for interaction that guide others internal state

Though communication is one of our basic activity, it is not always that we can interact effectively. It is well known that a key point for a successful interaction is the inclusion of other with a good mood. It means acquisition of others interest is a precondition for a successful communication.

Robots That Can Play with Children: What Makes a Robot Be a Friend

In this paper, a playmate robot system, which can play with a child, is proposed. Unlike many therapeutic service robots, our proposed system is implemented as a functionality of the domestic service robot with a high degree of freedom. This implies that the robot can use its body and toys for playing high-level games with children, i.e., beyond therapeutic play, using its physical features. The proposed system currently consists of ten play modules, including a chatbot, card playing, and drawing. To sustain the player’s interest in the system, we also propose an action-selection strategy based on a transition model of the child’s mental state. The robot can estimate the child’s state and select an appropriate action in the course of play. A portion of the proposed algorithms was implemented on a real robot platform, and experiments were carried out to design and evaluate the proposed system.

An Optimal Text/Background Color Combination of LED Information Boards for Visibility Improvement Based on Psychological Measurements

In this study, conspicuity and readability of the text on light-emitting diode (LED) information boards were evaluated by psychological experiments, and the influences of color combinations of text / background, luminance, and shadow were evaluated quantitatively. In recent years, LED boards have been able to display full-color images, and they have many functions to highlight text. Therefore, it is assumed that the LED board ability to function may be reduced depending on the way it is used. We investigated the relationship of color combinations of text and background, luminance, and shadow to conspicuity and readability to evaluate ease and efficiency of information communication via the LED board. We found that (1) the size of the area with high luminance affected conspicuity, (2) the difference of luminance of the part adjacent to the text/background affected readability, and (3) shadow affected both conspicuity and readability. Furthermore, trade-off between them was confirmed.

Estimation of Children’s Interest Dynamics While Communicating with Robots

The purpose of this study is to develop a communicative robot that estimates other’s mental state, and to elucidate a computational principle of brain dynamics that realizes a mental level interaction. As the first step for the perspective, we had constructed robots that can observe and estimate child’s internal states, such as boring or enjoying. As the experiment, we observed a child playing a card game with a robot that we had developed, and talking with the robot. After the experiments, the children’s mental states were evaluated by other participants by watching videos. The results showed high correlation with an index calculated by a face recognition system in the robot. This result suggests that it is possible for the robot to recognize human interest and to make an action inducing human-like interaction.

Chord character evaluation model based on harmoniousness: Application to music mood visualization interface

The chord, along with melody and rhythm, is one of the important elements in constituting music, but the cause of musics psychological effects are, for the most part, yet to be clarified. There are previous studies that define chord characters on the basis of the levels of dissonance, tension and modality, but there is not enough research to discuss psychological indexes which is called chords “brightness.” Therefore, in this study, in order to define a chord character evaluation based on harmoniousness, we propose a method for estimating the impression of brightness in chords. Evaluation experiments were performed in order to validate the proposed method. As a result, a strong correlation was found between the proposed degree of harmoniousness (H) and the results of psychological experiments. Furthermore, through the application of these results, an interface for representing musical mood through color was developed.

Model for viewing art

It is difficult for us to express internal sensitivities such as our art preferences with words. Recently, some psychological studies have reported a relationship between preference and eye movement. Several engineering studies have reported on methods or systems for tracking eye movement. In this study, we hypothesized that eye movement when viewing a painting can reflect preferences, and we tried to infer preferences by eye movement of participants while viewing paintings. If human preferences for art are modeled, the system can present a way to adapt to individual preferences. First, we measured the gaze points of participants as they viewed each painting with an eye-tracking system. Using the Bayesian method, we modeled the gaze points of participants as a probability distribution as they viewed a painting. We modeled their impressions while viewing paintings based on the gaze distribution.

Mapping model from chord to color

As an art, music has been used by way of binding with some other modality or media, e.g. color and pictures. In this study, the multimodal perceptual cross representation between chord and color has been focused on. Most of cultures have some musical songs as well as language. Musical chord representation of human is not clear. The some musical representation was reported for some area, such as scaling. And some methods for the chord feeling were proposed. Mapping between language and chord could depend on their own culture. There are some evidences that indicate the interactive relationship between language and color categorization. The color concepts depend on language or culture but color discrimination would be independent of language. This indicates that it is necessary to use the non-verbal way in order to elucidate about color-chord representation independent of cultures. Our purpose in this study is to elucidate the relationship between chord and color and to validate the some chord features proposed in past musical studies. In this study, we examined chord-color mapping experiments. The mapped color data was analyzed in the HLS color space, consisting of hue, saturation and luminance. To elucidate the relationship between chord and color representation, we applied the statistical model analysis from chord features to color feature and model selection method by the AIC. As the result, we examined the relationship from musical stimuli to color mapping and showed that the relationship exists for color and chords by the linear model analysis. From the nonverbal mapping experiment in this study, we showed that the chord feature values have an important role about musical representation of chord perception. This indicates that the musical chord features was validated as the chord representation.