Name:

Koji Tsukada, Ph. D.

Affiliation:

Associate Professor, Future University Hakodate

e-mail:

Profile

Publication

I have received the 2012 Ig Nobel Prize (Acoustics) with Kazutaka Kurihara on the SpeechJammer!!

Developing novel user interfaces for ubicomp

 

Collecting and inventing digital gadgets

(I have written several articles in MAKE: Japan.)

FabNavi (Fab10 Paper) FabNavi is a support system for people to assemble physical objects in remote places using visual instructions. We had many workshops and exhibitions among the world to explore the possibilities of the system.

SpeechJammer SpeechJammer is a system that can be used to disturb people's speech. We implemented two prototypes by combining a direction-sensitive microphone and a direction-sensitive speaker, enabling the speech of a specific person to be disturbed.

HangulGangul (TEI 2012 Art Exploration) HangulGangul is an interactive toy that 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.

EaTheremin (Siggraph Asia 2011 Emerging Technology) EaTheremine (Eat + Theremin) is a fork-type instrumen that enables users to play various sounds by eating foods. These sounds are changed, according to resistance values of foods attached on the fork.

DrawerBrowser (Ubicomp 2011 Demo) DrawerBrowser is a practical picture browser for finding items in drawers that is designed through observations of daily activities.

IteMinder (Ubicomp 2011 Poster) IteMinder helps users find property in a room using passive RFID and an autonomous robot.

SmartMakeupSystem (Ubicomp 2011 Demo) Smart Makeup System helps users find new makeup methods for use with their daily cosmetics by sharing makeup logs (makeup pictures and cosmetics usages) on the web.

AwareHanger (Peravasive 2011 Poseter) AwareHanger is a context-aware hanger which can detect laundry statsus automatically and inform users via multiple media (e.g.,sounds or Twitter).

LunchCommunicator (Pervasive 2011 Demo) LunchCommunicator is a lunchbox-type device, which supports communication between family members -the lunch-creator and the lunch-consumer- using automatic capturing/playing techniques during the preparation/consumption of the lunchbox.

Smart Skincare System（AH2011 Paper, CHI2010 Poster) Smart Skincare System.is a remote skincare advice system using life logs. This system helps users automatically log information related to their skin condition and share these data with skincare experts in order to obtain appropriate advice.

DrawerFinder (IUI 2011Short Paper) DrawerFinder helps users find commodities stored in storage boxes with drawers on a shelf. When a user opens a box, a camera attached above the shelf detects a visual marker attached to the box and the system automatically takes a picture. Users can browse these pictures using a common web browser.

PotPet（TEI 2011 Demo) PotPet is a flowerpot-type robot 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.

IODisk （UIST 2010 Demo) IODisk is a disk-type I/O interface that helps users browse various digital contents intuitively in their living environment. IODisk mainly consists of a force-feedback mechanism integrated in the rotation axis of a disk. Users can control the playing speed/direction contents (e.g., videos or picture slideshows) in proportion to the rotational speed/direction of the disk. We developed a prototype system and some applications.

LetterTwitter (Ubicomp 2010 Video/Poster) LetterTwitter is a smart mailbox that can automatically capture dropped snail mail (s-mail), classify pictures into several categories (e.g., letters or flyers), and upload categorized pictures to the Web.

Onomatopen(ICEC 2010 Paper) Onomatopen is a painting system that enables a user to switch brushes and apply effects using onomatopoeia. For example, if the user draws a line while saying "Zig-zag Zig-zag...", a jagged line is drawn.

MediAlarm (Pervasive 2010 Demo) MediAlarm is a novel alarm-clock interface which can wake people using a combination of various media, such as sound, lighting, vibrations, room temperature, and SNS (Social Networking Services). People are able to select various alarms based on their desired “wake-up level”– the urgency with which they want to be woken – using simple controls.

BoxFinder (Pervasive 2010 Demo) BoxFinder helps users find unclassified items stored in boxes using pictures and visual markers. By capturing pictures of the commodities stored in boxes with a visual marker using on-hand/fixed digital cameras, users can then browse these pictures using either an offsite Web browser or an onsite mobile computer.

EyeCatcher （Pervasive 2010 Paper) EyeCatcher is a novel interactive technique for digital camera, to help photographers capture a variety of natural looking facial expressions by keeping the eyes of subjects focused on the camera without the stress of photography.

Complete Fashion Coordinator(AVI2010 Paper, Ubicomp2009 Poster) Complete Fashion Coordinator is a novel system that 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.

InPhase(CHI 2010 Paper, CHI2009 Poster) InPhase is a new method of communicating these "happy coincidences" between a pair of remotely located locations.The system plays a simple chime sound when two people in different locations experience the same action simultaneously.

ChameleonBall (TEI 2010 Exploration) ChameleonBall is a novel ball-type input/output (I/O) device that allows users to interact with colors in the real world.

DiningPresenter(Ubicomp 2009 Demo) DiningPresenter is an AR system for dining environment, which enhances the visual appearance of food, dishes, and a tabletop.

SmoothCurtain(Ubicomp 2009 Poster) SmoothCurtain is a video communication system suitable for constant use in daily environment. Users can easily control privacies just by opening/closing curtains attached in front of the device.

HomeOrgel (Ubicomp 2008 Demo) HomeOrgel is an auditory interface modeled on a music box, which can present home activities with natural sound. Users can hear the sounds of current and past activities with the BGM mechanism of the music box.

TagTansu (Pervasive 2008 Poster) TagTansu is a capture and anotation system for clothes to support creating a picture database of clothes. Using TagTansu, users can easily take pictures of clothes and add different tags to the pictures just by hanging clothes on different hooks.

SyncDecor (CHI2007 Poster/AVI2008 Short Paper/Ubicomm2008 Paper) SyncDecor is a system to synchronize pairs of daily appliances that are located at a distance from each other. Using SyncDecor, couples living apart can share their activities with ease, which would happen naturally if they were living together, .

WillCam（CHI 200７ Poster) WillCam is a novel digital camera which can capture various context information in addition to the photo itself.

PhantomParasol（Pervasive 2005 Poster) PhantomParasol is a parasol-type display which can show both ambient and detailed information with smooth transition.

MouseField（Ubicomp 2004 Paper) MouseField is a new simple and versatile input device, which enables users to control various information appliances easily without huge amount of cost.

ActiveBelt（Ubicomp 2004 Paper) ActiveBelt is a belt-type wearable tactile display that can transmit multiple directional information. ActiveBelt helps users reach their destinations without watching maps.

Dying Link（HCII 2003 Short Paper)> Dying Link is a new visualization technique that makes links to Web pages look aged according to how old the pages are. It visializes the link to an old page in a blurred text or a vague figure.

Ubi-Finger(Ubicomp 2001 Demo, APCHI2002 Paper) Ubi-Finger is a novel gesture input interface that is optimized for mobile and ubiquitous environment. Using Ubi-Finger, a user can select a target device by pointing with her/his index finger, and then control it flexibly by performing natural gestures of fingers.