The social implementation of small autonomous mobile robots is advancing in delivery and accompanying services. However, inappropriate waiting positions can obstruct pedestrian flow and impair facility operations. Conventional waiting location estimation methods require long-term observation of actual pedestrian walking history, resulting in high introduction costs and environmental dependence. This research proposes a fluid simulation-based method that estimates waiting locations using only floor maps without prior observation. By approximating pedestrian flow as a two-dimensional incompressible fluid, the method extracts waiting candidates from velocity fields determined by environmental geometry. Through comparative verification with agent-based simulation and human subject experiments, we confirmed that the proposed method achieves estimation accuracy equivalent to history-based approaches while requiring no prior observation. The method demonstrates environmental adaptability across simple corridors to complex spaces, with a practical threshold of 0.4 times maximum flow velocity effectively distinguishing appropriate waiting locations. The approach enables rapid deployment and adaptation to layout changes, addressing key challenges in mobile robot social implementation.

In our daily lives, we are exposed to various stressors, which, even in mild forms, can lead to serious health issues when prolonged. Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) uses bodily movement as psychotherapy to improve health and well-being; however, traditional DMT requires therapists, specific setups, and physical props, limiting daily accessibility. To address this, we conducted a formative study with 10 DMT experts and developed ImmersiveDMT, a VR application that provides real-time visual and auditory feedback in response to users’ movements. A user study with 56 participants examined how visual, auditory, and audiovisual feedback affect expressive movement and stress reduction compared to a non-responsive immersive baseline. Results showed that auditory and audiovisual conditions induced significantly more expressive movement compared to baseline. Both visual and auditory feedback achieved significant stress reduction below baseline (V: 17.1%, p=.004; A: 16.6%, p=.042), while combined audiovisual feedback led to less stress reduction. This research presents a novel approach to accessible daily stress management by integrating VR and DMT, demonstrating new possibilities for self-directed mental health support.

In today's globalized world, there are increasing opportunities for individuals to communicate using a common non-native language (lingua franca). Non-native speakers often have opportunities to listen to foreign languages, but may not comprehend them as fully as native speakers do. To aid real-time comprehension, live transcription of subtitles is frequently used in everyday life (e.g., during Zoom conversations, watching YouTube videos, or on social networking sites). However, simultaneously reading subtitles while listening can increase cognitive load. In this study, we propose Dynamik, a system that reduces cognitive load during reading by decreasing the size of less important words and enlarging important ones, thereby enhancing sentence contrast. Our results indicate that Dynamik can reduce certain aspects of cognitive load, specifically, participants' perceived performance and effort among individuals with low proficiency in English, as well as enhance the users' sense of comprehension, especially among people with low English ability. We further discuss our methods' applicability to other languages and potential improvements and further research directions.

Unexpected robot encounters in public spaces can cause discomfort for third parties, yet the acceptability of accompanying robots is not yet fully understood. Visual cues strongly influence robot impressions; however, the interaction between explicit visual indicators and individual robot resistance in determining acceptability remains unexplored. We investigated how visual relationship indicators—connection visibility (the physical linkage between the robot and handler) and control visibility (the evident authority of the handler)—influence acceptance based on individuals’ levels of robot resistance. In our experiment, 23 participants encountered a mobile robot under three operation methods: Autonomous (no visual indicators), Joystick (only control visibility), and Leash (both connection and control visibility), with participants divided into high-resistance (n=12) and low-resistance (n=11) groups based on their NARS scores. Results indicate that Leash had the highest acceptability, with high-resistance participants showing significant differences across methods and benefiting from explicit visual indicators, unlike low-resistance participants who were largely unaffected. These findings offer important design implications for accompanying robots in public spaces, suggesting that employing visually explicit relationship indicators is an effective strategy for enhancing acceptability, particularly among individuals with robot resistance.

Haptic displays play an important role in enhancing the sense of presence in VR and telepresence. Displaying the tactile properties of fabrics has potential in the fashion industry, but there are difficulties in dynamically displaying different types of tactile sensations while maintaining their flexible properties. The vibrotactile stimulation of fabrics is an important element in the tactile properties of fabrics, as it greatly affects the way a garment feels when rubbed against the skin. To dynamically change the vibrotactile stimuli, many studies have used mechanical actuators. However, when combined with fabric, the soft properties of the fabric are compromised by the stiffness of the actuator. In addition, because the vibration generated by such actuators is applied to a single point, it is not possible to provide a uniform tactile sensation over the entire surface of the fabric, resulting in an uneven tactile sensation. In this study, we propose a Pinching Tactile Display: a conductive cloth that changes the tactile sensation by controlling electrostatic adsorption. By controlling the voltage and frequency applied to the conductive cloth, different tactile sensations can be dynamically generated. This makes it possible to create a tactile device in which tactile sensations are applied to the entire fabric while maintaining the thin and soft characteristics of the fabric. As a result, users could experiment with tactile sensations by picking up and rubbing the fabric in the same way they normally touch it. This mechanism has the potential for dynamic tactile transformation of soft materials.

Cooperative recognition, a method to achieve human-automation cooperation in the recognition phase of the autonomous driving system, has been proposed to address the challenges in the conventional control phase cooperation, e.g., taking over vehicle control. In cooperative recognition, the operator intervenes in recognition tasks that are difficult for the automated system alone to improve driving efficiency and safety. The challenge is the integration of both human and automated systems while both participants have different characteristics, processing capabilities, and uncertainty in the decisions (recognition results). The objectives of this study are task allocation (i.e., when and for which targets the operator should intervene) taking into account the intervention efficiency and human state. And also combine the human intervention and recognition result of the automated systems to solve the uncertainties in both participants. We formulated this problem with a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP). The simulator experiment indicated that the recognition result of the automated system and the operator’s intervention were stochastically combined. The intervention requests to the operator adapted to the operator state and could be reduced while maintaining driving efficiency and minimizing risk omissions.

Vehicle dashboard cameras are becoming an increasingly popular kind of automotive accessory. While it is easy to obtain the high-definition video data recorded by dashcams using Secure Digital memory cards, this data is rarely used except for safety purposes because it takes substantial time and effort to review or edit many hours of such recorded videos. In this paper, we propose a new usage for this data through the automatic video editing system we have developed that can create enjoyable video summaries of road trips utilizing video and other data from the vehicle. We also report the results of comparisons between automatically edited videos created by the proposed system and manually edited videos created by study participants. The prototype developed in this study and the findings from our experiments will contribute to improving the driving experience by providing entertainment for automobile users after road trips, and by memorializing their travels.

This paper illustrates design work carried out to develop an interactive theater performance. HCI has started to address the challenges of designing interactive performances, as both audience and performers’ experiences are considered and a variety of professional expertise involved. Nevertheless, research has overlooked how such design unfolds in practice, and what role artists play in exploring both the creative opportunities and the challenges associated with interweaving digital technologies. A two-day workshop was conducted to tailor the use of the ChameleonMask, a telepresence technology, within a performance. The analysis highlights the artists’ work to make the mask work while framing, exploring and conceptualizing its use. The discussion outlines the artists’ skills and design expertise, and how they redefine the role of HCI in performance-led research.

In this research, we proposed an active management method to tele-monitor and tele-operate more autonomous vehicles (AVs) with few observers by adjusting the movement of the AVs actively. A management system is created to get the status from the AVs and separate the monitoring requirement to the observers optimally. When the requirements might be intensive, the management system can also adjust the movements of the AVs actively to distribute the monitoring time, which can make the observers monitor more vehicles. We implement and verify the management system in an autonomous driving simulator - CARLA for the limited number of AVs and observers. Based on the data acquired from the driving simulator, we also create a numerical simulator and tested our method with the pairs of a large number of AVs and observers. The result of both simulators shows that our method can reduce the utilization degree of observers and make them monitor more AVs.

As research and development related to the practical use of autonomous driving systems (ADS) continue to advance, one of the remaining challenges is achieving both safe and natural autonomous driving. In part, this is due to the difficulty of achieving flawless, automated perception and understanding of the driving environment. In our previous study, we proposed a recognition assistance interface to solve this problem by sharing ADS recognition information with the passenger, allowing them to assist in the recognition stage of the autonomous driving process. In this study, we incorporate our recognition assistance interface into Autoware and test it in a simulated driving environment, using scenarios in which the ADS must recognize the intent of pedestrians and respond to the presence of trash in the road. Natural driving was dened as driving that avoids significant, unnecessary deceleration when performing these challenging recognition tasks. The results of our experiment with 11 participants showed that sharing recognition information with passengers is effective for avoiding unnecessary deceleration and achieving only minor variations in speed when encountering obstacles flagged in error by the recognition system.

This paper introduces Augmented Jump, a backpack multirotor system for jumping ability augmentation. Augmented Jump hovers and supports users' weight by a constant upward power of thrust. Users can jump higher and stay in the air for a longer time than usual with Augmented Jump. We designed and developed our first proof-of-concept prototype that can be controlled as an octocopter and support user's weight by 50kg at maximum. In our experiments, it is found that the system enabled the user to perform jumping in simulated 75% reduced gravity. From user study, the results showed that our system was effective for extending the height and the duration of jumping.

We propose technology for designing and manufacturing interactive 3D printed speakers. With the proposed technology, sound reproduction can easily be integrated into vari-ous objects at the design stage and little assembly is required. The speaker can take the shape of anything from an abstract spiral to a rubber duck, opening new opportunities in product design. Furthermore, both audible sound and inaudible ultrasound can be produced with the same design, allowing for identifying and tracking 3D printed objects in space using common integrated microphones. The design of 3D printed speakers is based on electrostatic loudspeaker technology first explored in the early 1930s but not broadly applied until now. These speakers are simpler than common electromagnetic speakers, while allowing for sound reproduction at 60 dB levels with arbitrary directivity ranging from focused to omnidirectional. Our research of 3D printed speakers contributes to the growing body of work exploring functional 3D printing in interactive applications.

We propose a telepresence system with a real human face-shaped screen. This system tracks the remote user's face and extracts the head motion and the face image. The face-shaped screen moves along three degree-of-freedom (DOF) by reflecting the user's head gestures. As the face-shaped screen is molded based on the 3D-shape scan data of the user, the projected image is accurate even when it is seen from different angles. We expect this system can accurately convey the user's nonverbal communication, in particular the user's gaze direction in 3D space that is not correctly transmitted by using a 2D screen (which is known as "the Mona Lisa effect"). To evaluate how this system can contribute to the communication, we conducted three experiments. The first one examines the blind angle of a face-shaped screen and a flat screen, and compares the ease with which users can distinguish facial expressions. The second one evaluates how the direction in which the remote user's face points can be correctly transmitted. The third experiment evaluates how the gaze direction can be correctly transmitted. We found that the recognizable angles of the face-shaped screen were larger, and that the recognition of the head directions was better than on a flat 2D screen. More importantly, we found that the face-shaped screen accurately conveyed the gaze direction, resolving the problem of the Mona Lisa effect.