At present, many projects embed smart LEDs "multiple LEDs dynamically controlled by computers" into clothes or accessories to support novel expressions or daily activities. However, most of them do not consider the "sparkle" of traditional jewelry. We propose a presentation technique for interactive jewelry called "Sparklry", which can present "sparkles" on a jewel stone using internal LEDs. These sparkles are designed by integrating (1) a traditional jewel, (2) a light shielding sheet with small slits, and (3) an LED array. We developed a prototype and several examples of jewelry to explore appropriate designs of slits and LED patterns. Moreover, we developed two prototypes.

Many research projects on augmented sports have been proposed, which aim to extend sport experiences using computer technologies. We focus on interaction with balls, which are used in various sports. In this paper, we propose a ball-type device, "SomaticBall" which can provide a sensation as though the ball were stuck to the body.

This paper describes the design of a digital fork and a mobile interactive and persuasive game for a young child who is a picky eater and/or easily distracted during mealtime. The system employs Ubicomp technology to educate children on the importance of a balanced diet while motivating proper eating behavior. To sense a child's eating behavior, we have designed and prototyped a sensor-embedded digital fork, called the Sensing Fork. Furthermore, we have developed a story-book and persuasive game, called the Hungry Panda, on a smartphone. This capitalizes on the capabilities of the Sensing Fork to interact with and modify children's eating behavior during mealtime. We report the results of a real-life study that involves mother-child subjects and tested the effectiveness of the Sensing Fork and Hungry Panda game in addressing children's eating problems. Our findings exhibit positive effects for changing children's eating behavior.

Users often have difficulty taking pictures of jewelry as it requires advanced photographic techniques. We propose a system called "JewelryStudio" that helps users easily capture pictures of jewelry from multiple angles, and upload them to an online database for various web-based uses. In this paper, we explain the concept, implementation, and evaluation of the JewelryStudio.

Many people find that communication between men and women is difficult regardless of their efforts to understand their partners. Especially, negative feelings cause troubles on communication of couple members. In this paper, we proposed a novel communication support system for couples that helps couple members share their negative feelings and heal over them smoothly using a physical avatar.

Although many cooking recipes have been shared in the world, there are still many homemade meals that are never written down as recipes. The difficulty to create recipes of such homemade meals lies on (1) experienced cookers might not have accurate information of ingredients (e.g., weight and timing) since they often decide the amount of ingredients just by intuition, (2) they often have trouble to record such accurate information while cooking. To solve these problems, we propose a smart cutting board, CookTab, which allows a user to easily record his/her cooking activities (e.g., the names and quantities of ingredients) while provides real-time feedback to motivate him/her.

We propose an interactive toy, "Hangul Gangul", which helps users learn Hangul characters using a tangible interface. Using our system, users can enjoy learning Hangul characters by combining physical blocks representing vowel and consonant characters. Our system aims to encourage collaborative learning between children and adults.

We propose a practical picture browser called DrawerBrowser for finding items in drawers, which is designed through observation of daily activities.

We propose a novel search technique called IteMinder that helps users find property in a room using passive RFID and an autonomous robot. First, we attach RFID tags to the target items and at typical locations in a room. We also attach an RFID reader and a laser rangefinder to the robot. The robot can move around the entire room automatically while avoiding obstacles using the laser rangefinder. When the robot finds a tagged item, it uploads the tag ID and location information to the database. Users can then browse target items and their locations on a common web browser.

Although many women wear makeup every day, they often have difficulty in varying their makeup. In this paper, we propose "Smart Makeup System" that helps users find new makeup methods for use with their daily cosmetics by sharing makeup logs (makeup pictures and cosmetics usages) on the web.

We propose a novel search technique called DrawerFinder that helps users find commodities stored in two types of storage boxes (with drawers or lids) on a shelf. First, we attach visual markers inside these storage boxes. When a user opens a box, a camera attached above the shelf detects the visual marker and the system automatically takes a picture. Next, the picture is automatically uploaded to an online database tagged with the box ID. Users can then browse these pictures using a PC or cellular phone equipped with a common web browser. We believe our system helps users find items in boxes efficiently as they can browse both pictures of boxes and the surrounding environment (e.g., who last opened the storage box) quickly.

We propose a flowerpot-type robot called PotPet that helps users grow plants more effectively and enjoyably. PotPet acts autonomously like pets: it automatically moves to sunny places or approaches people when it requires water. Basically, PotPet consists of a "real" plant, several sensors to detect plant status, a robot with wheels for mobility, and a microcontroller to control the above devices. Here we explain the concepts and implementation of the PotPet.

For some people, selecting the clothes you wear is sometimes tedious, difficult and requires you to remember what you have previously worn. While there are many fashion SNS (Social Networking Services) sites and related research devoted to addressing certain aspects of this issue, there is no system that combines both the automated cataloguing of one's own clothes with near real-time recommendation by their social network. In this paper, we propose a novel system which allows users to easily organize and optimize their daily clothing selection based on historical data. By combining historical information about what the user has worn with several options such as the user's planned activities and the weather, it can help the user in coordinating what to wear. In order to simplify and automate the capture, storage and cataloging of image of the users clothing, we propose a system which allows for the automatic and standardized capturing of a person's clothes by simply hanging an item on a hook built into a cabinet. Furthermore, by utilizing the internet and common SNS sites, it allows friends, family living apart and/or romantic couples to seamlessly share the catalogued photos of their clothes, initiate conversation and help select what is appropriate to wear.

To supplement existing forms of communication such as telephone and e-mail, this research proposes a new method of communicating "awareness" between people who are separated by long distances. In this paper, we investigate cases where coincidences in daily activities lead to casual conversation and thus intimacy and togetherness. We propose a new method of communicating these "happy coincidences" between a pair of remotely located locations. By equipping furniture and appliances such as doors, sofas, refrigerators and televisions with sensors, we developed a system wherein these items are connected to remote equivalents and their near simultaneous use is communicated. We conducted a two month field test of the system in a laboratory setting and a three month field test in an actual home. The study showed that the participant felt the presence of other people and thought about, imagined or even confirmed the habits of others by intentionally triggering the coincidence notification.

We propose a novel ball-type input/output (I/O) device--the ChameleonBall--that allows users to interact with colors in the real world. The ChameleonBall mainly consists of multiple color I/O units in an acrylic ball. It can detect the colors of objects in the real world and emit similar colors. We have developed a prototype system and a few applications using this device.

Despite the fact that various means of communication such as mobile phones, instant messenger and e-mail are now widespread; many romantic couples separated by long distances worry about the health of their relationships. Likewise, these couples have a greater desire to feel a sense of connection and synchronicity with their partners than traditional inter-family bonds. In many prior research projects, unique devices were developed that required a level of interpretation which did not directly affect one's daily routine - and therefore were more casual in nature. However, this paper concentrates on the use of common, day-to-day items and modifying them to communicate everyday actions while maintaining a sustained and natural usage pattern for strongly paired romantic couples. For this purpose, we propose the "SyncDecor" system, which pairs traditional appliances and allow them to remotely synchronize and provide awareness or cognizance about their partners - thereby creating a virtual "living together" feeling. We present evidence, from a 3-month long field study, where traditional appliances provided a significantly more natural, varied and sustained usage patterns which ultimately enhanced communications between the couples.

The importance of informal communication on the Internet has been increasing in recent years. Several systems for informal communication are currently available to the public. These systems, however, require a particular server and/or specialized 3D content. In this paper, we propose a system for informal communication in a 3D virtual environment. The system makes 3D virtual worlds from existing common 2D HTML documents. Browsers communicate in a peer-to-peer manner. Construction and management of the system can be achieved with ease and at low cost in contrast with existing 3D virtual communication systems. Our results show that users shared interests by gaze awareness.

In an office working environment, it is very unusual that a worker is engaged in a single task until the task is completed. Generally, multitasking is the norm, so workers will belong to several project groups and work on one of the projects and then, before completing that, switch to another. Focusing on how to manage resources effectively and how to support task performance in an environment in which workers belong to multiple projects, this paper examines the provision of appropriate mechanisms to support collaborative work in the environment. We suggest a method for managing resources which uses a 3-level structure consisting of a sharing level, a working level and a personal level, and we describe the implementation of the Multi-Project Support System which is capable of supporting interrelations among workers, resources and projects.>