Batting training practice aims at increasing the batting performance of baseball players. Traditional batting practice methods have been proven effective in increasing the players batting performance in real games. However, the feedback the player gets is limited to: the vibration of the bat, the sound of the impact and the ball trajectory. We propose a Virtual Reality-based (VR) baseball batting system that provides batters with instantaneous bat swing information as feedback. This information includes: exact bat-ball impact location and angle, replay for swing timing and speed. The ability to review this swing information immediately after each swing may help batters to quantitatively adjust their swing to improve batting performance. In order to evaluate its effectiveness, we compared the proposed method against a traditional batting training method, during a short period. Results of our preliminary experiments show that the VR-based group batting performance, after a 10-day practice period, was comparable to the traditional group. Further experiments and analysis are required to assess the efficiency of the proposed method.

Sensor networks allow us to collect data, such as camera images, over a wide area. Understanding the sensing area by aggregating and processing the data from multiple sensors is promising. Deep Learning (DL) is a powerful method for interpreting data. However, communication cost on the sensor network and computational cost on the server are two substantial problems of aggregating and processing data from multiple sensors. We therefore propose divided processing of the DL between a server and a powerful Edge-Heavy Sensor (EHS). In our study, we reduced transmission data to twelve times lower than the amount of raw input data while maintaining a 4.5% decrease in the DL's recognition accuracy.

Walking 8,000 steps in a day is one of the important criteria to maintain our health. However, we often miss a chance to walk due to the difficulty to keep our motivation toward our health in a daily life. We propose an algorithm to search an appropriate daily walking pattern from the user's past walking record. The searched walking patterns are used for making a health promotion agent recommend an effective timing to walk. With this recommendation, users will not miss the timing when they can walk. In this study, we focused on designing the algorithm for searching a daily walking pattern, which satisfied both conditions, achieving 8,000 steps a day and being similar to the current user walking record. In a pilot performance study, it was revealed that the proposed algorithm can narrow down the walking pattern candidates and properly search the walking pattern similar to the current user walking record.

We aim to provide an interactive and entertaining environment for users to better enjoy and stay motivated during indoor training. We are now developing a virtual treadmill-based training system that will allow users to experience walking or running around various real scenes. The images are displayed according to the user's speed. We use a set of key frame 360-degree panoramic images on a grid to synthesize, in real-time, an omnidirectional movie for any possible path the user takes. The playback smoothness of the synthesized movie depends on the separation (grid pitch) between key frames. Preliminary experimental results help us determine the largest playback grid pitch without compromising the playback smoothness.

Augmented reality (AR) is the mixing of computer-generated stimuli with real-world stimuli. In this paper, we present results from a controlled, empirical study comparing three ways of delivering spatialized audio for AR applications: a speaker array, headphones, and a bone-conduction headset. Analogous to optical-see-through AR in the visual domain, hear-through AR allows users to receive computer-generated audio using the bone-conduction headset, and real-world audio using their unoccluded ears. Our results show that subjects achieved the best accuracy using a speaker array physically located around the listener when stationary sounds were played, but that there was no difference in accuracy between the speaker array and the bone-conduction device for sounds that were moving, and that both devices outperformed standard headphones for moving sounds. Subjective comments by subjects following the experiment support this performance data.

We present a novel approach for mixing real and computer-generated audio for augmented reality (AR) applications. Analogous to optical-see-through and video-see-through techniques in the visual domain, we present Hear-Through and Mic-Through audio AR. Hear-Through AR uses a bone-conduction headset to deliver computer-generated audio, while leaving the ear canals free to receive audio from the surrounding environment. Mic-Through AR allows audio signals captured from ear-worn microphones to be mixed with computer-generated audio in the computer, and delivered to the user over headphones. We present preliminary results from an empirical user study conducted to compare a bone-conduction device, headphones, and a speaker array. The results show that subjects achieved the best accuracy using an array of speakers physically located around the listener when stationary sounds were played, but that there was no difference in accuracy between the speaker array and the bone-conduction device for sounds that were moving, and that both devices outperformed standard headphones for moving sounds.

A distributed tactile sensor that can sense multi-axis forces and is high-densely arrayed is required in such VR applications as robotic hands and glove-like controllers in tele-existence systems. We are developing elements of a tactile sensor that can simultaneously measure pressure and shear force, and they are small enough to be arrayed densely in small areas due to MEMS process fabrication. However, the signal processing of numerous sensor elements remains a serious problem. In this paper, we studied a solution by a strategy of distributed processing and examined its effectiveness in a simulated environment

We present a new classification framework for describing augmented reality (AR) applications based on where the mixing of real and computer-generated stimuli takes place. In addition to "classical " visual AR techniques, such as optical-see-through and video-see-through AR, our framework encompasses AR directed at the other senses as well. This "axis of mixing location " is a continuum ranging from the physical environment to the human brain. There are advantages and disadvantages of mixing at different points along the continuum, and while there is no "best" location, we present sample usage scenarios that illustrate the expressiveness of this classification approach.

We have constructed a sensor network in a real hospital environment to develop a system that prevents medical accidents by monitoring nursing activities. The network has been carefully designed to be dependable for practical purposes even in a network-unready environment with considerations of safety and stability as well as the consistency of the obtained sensor data. This paper describes the design and implementation of our sensor network. Through an experiment of about one week, we confirmed that our design performs well in a practical environment and obtains consistent data among the sensors worn by nurses and installed in the environment. Since a hospital has strict limitations on the use of sensor network equipment, the design described in this paper provides a practical solution for the construction of sensor networks in many indoor applications

We propose a projection-based olfactory display method as an unencumbering way to deliver smells using a scent projector. This device allows us to deliver smells both spatially and temporally by carrying scented air within a vortex ring launched from an air cannon. However, our original scent projector had a problem: users often felt a significant, unnatural airflow when the vortex ring hit their faces. In this paper, we propose a novel configuration of a projection-based olfactory display that reduces this breeze effect. We use two air cannons that launch vortex rings that collide at a target point and break by themselves, distributing their smell at the point where they were broken to make a small "spot" of scent. With this configuration, users feel as if the smell came with a soft breeze, so that they can enjoy a more natural olfactory experience.

The Proactive Desk is a force feedback system using a two-degree of freedom linear induction motor (LIM) designed for ordinary desktop operations. The system provides two-dimensional force feedback on a desktop surface, but only for a single object. This means that when several users operate this system together, only one user at a time can acquire force feedback from the system. In this paper, we propose a new-generation haptic display, Proactive Desk II, which uses an advanced LIM for multi-object driving, and develop a prototype system based on our approach. The system employs a cluster of coils for producing magnetic fluxes individually underneath the desktop, and those synthesize several traveling magnetic fields as a result. These magnetic fields simulate a local region of the field generated by our first-generation system, being able to drive multiple objects separately.

CirculaFloor is a locomotion interface that uses a set of movable tiles. The movable tiles employ a holonomic mechanism that achieves omni-directional motion. Circulation of the tiles enables the user to walk in a virtual environment while his/her position is maintained. The user can walk in any chosen direction in the virtual environment. A prototype is implemented and its performance is evaluated thorough video analysis of mass participants and physical measurement of the walker.

We present recent results we have obtained in the design of a wireless tactor system for use in virtual as well as real environments. We describe a system we have designed that uses vibration motors wired to a body-worn control box, which in turn communicates with a host computer using a wireless connection. Though we have successfully integrated this system into an existing VR-based dismounted infantry simulator, it is clear that expanding the body coverage and number of vibration points requires a solution that is completely wireless. To this end, we describe a working prototype we have built that, though still somewhat large and feature-limited, has convinced us of the merit of our approach.

This installation provides painters with a method for feeling attributes of digital colors and a fluid canvas. When a user of this installation moves the stylus paintbrush over the digital canvas, he/she senses the "weight of the colors" through the brush. For example, the user experiences dark colors as heavy in weight and light colors as light in weight. Complex painting is expressed as a mixed tactile sensation using a new desk-style force feedback system called the "Proactive Desk." Other existing digital painting systems that use haptic cues usually aim to be physically and visually correct. In this approach, however, we invested effort in enhancing the relationship between digital colors as a virtual material and the sense of touch. Additionally, we took the importance of co-located drawing work space for creative tasks into account. We believe that this experience will arouse new inspiration and give digital painters the opportunity to experience again how important touch is for creativity in art.

An interface that involves all five senses, including olfaction, would be the ultimate interface for virtual reality (VR). We are trying to construct an olfactory display that does not require the user to wear anything on the face. We used an "air cannon" to transport small packets of scented air to the user's nose from some nearby place. In this paper, we report the ongoing development of an olfactory display system with a nose-tracking feature by incorporating vision-based face tracking technology.

The Proactive Desk is a new digital desk with haptic feedback. The Proactive Desk allows a user to handle both virtual and real objects on a digital desk with a realistic feeling. We proposed it for a co-experience web that would enable people to share the feelings and experiences of other users via the Internet. In the Proactive Desk, two linear induction motors are equipped to generate an omnidirectional translational force on a user's hand or a physical object on the desk without any mechanical link nor wire, thereby preserving the advantages of a digital desk. In this paper we report applications of the Proactive Desk and the performance of the first trial model.

By sharing data regarding the sensations experienced by individuals, as well as by sharing their knowledge, we are readily able to communicate with each other, and there are possibilities to further evolve this communication method. The different sensations experienced during voluntary walking and enforced walking give us different feelings. Also, the number of individuals involved can create a different feeling when walking. Networked computer-assisted walking can support and enhance these different experiences. In this paper, we introduce another walking style, the shared power-assisted voluntary walk, which is realized by a prototype networked locomotion system. This system can be used in tele-rehabilitation, which allows remote patients to share the sensation of walking. Also, it can be used to teach a group of patients rehabilitative walking. We developed two locomotion interfaces and connected them via a network. We developed enforced and semi-voluntary walking training systems using the shared walk environment and evaluated them with a series of experiments. operation integration process. In the second algorithm, thanks to deferred broadcast of operations to other sites, this process becomes even more simplified.

Describes a series of stages in the development of a new virtual locomotion device that has been designed to enhance remote inter-personal communications. The latest system, called GSS (Ground Surface Simulator), inherits the features of two previous locomotion interfaces, viz. ATLAS (ATR Locomotion interface for Active Self-motion) and ALF (ALive Floor). GSS also incorporates two different features not found in ordinary treadmills: a movable belt and an active belt-speed controller. We built an initial prototype of GSS and developed a method that presents bumpy surfaces that are free from the mechanical limitations inherent in prior designs. Experimental results showed that a subject could distinguish a 1% difference in the virtual slope on the GSS.

Palmtop displays have been extensively studied, but most of them simply refocus information in the real or virtual world.The palmtop display for dextrous manipulation (PDDM) proposed in this paper allows the users to manipulate a remote object as if they were holding it in their hands.The PDDM system has a small LCD, a 3D mouse and a mechanical linkage (force display).When the user locks onto an object in the center of the palmtop display, s/he can manipulate the object through motion input on the palmtop display with haptic sensation.In this paper, the features of the PDDM with haptic sensation are described, then four operating methods and the haptic representation methods for a trial model are proposed and evaluated.(see Video Figure in the CH196 Video Program)

Describes a method of representing volume data with haptical sensation. Recently, volume visualization has been used to analyze a large amount of data. However, volume-visualized images use the color or intensity of the pixels; thus it is hard to display high-dimensional volume data. The authors proposed to give force feedback to the volume model in several ways. They construct a test virtual volume model with force feedback provided by a force display system. The performance of the model is exemplified for a volume classification task.