Kenji Suzuki

Function of eye contact and face-to-face during dyadic conversation

Previous studies have reported that the results of experiments on social attention differ in physical face-to-face and mediated face-to-face (e.g., real people vs. images of people). These results do not indicate only the difference between laboratory setting and daily life, but suggests that the control variables of social attention difficult to control in the laboratory might have a great influence on social attention in the daily living environment. In this paper, we outline the previous studies related to eye contact and face-to-face during dyadic conversation and introduces the experimental plan using wearable eye-tracker and device that measures face-to-face.

soichiro-matsuda
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発達支援のための物理的に相互作用できる球体ロボットの開発 | Development of a Physically Interactive Spherical Robot for Developmental Support

In this study, we developed a spherical robot that can play tag in a gymnasium for students of special-needs schools, with the aim of promoting the development of physical and cognitive abilities and social adaptability. This is a possible way to alleviate the imbalance in participation opportunities due to differences in ability. In this presentation, we report on two points: the control method of the spherical robot and the detection of the robot's position in the gymnasium using the ceiling camera.

takahiro-ishii
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Wearable Device for Measuring Face-to-Face Behavior via Infrared Communication

We present a novel head-mounted device for measuring face-to-face behavior. The device has unique capabilities: measuring timing and duration of face-to-face behavior as well as an identity of the partner, being used by multiparty, and automatically logging the behavior by connecting with Android device. We employ infrared communication technique for measuring the behavior. A pilot experiment with two dummy heads shows that the developed devices can detect the face-to-face behavior with a certain angle. We also conducted an experiment with human participants. The events recorded by the developed device show moderate agreement with those coded from video by human observers.

taku-hachisu
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Proposal of A Spacial Design for A Gymnasium Using Floor Projection

Social interaction supports are one of the fundamental factors to realize a successful inclusion in education for children with special needs, including those with Neurodevelopmental disorders. In order to develop their social interaction skills, we propose an interactive school gymnasium, called FUTUREGYM, with a large-scale interactive floor projection system. We installed high performance projectors and tracking cameras mounted on the ceiling of the gymnasium of a special needs school, providing interactive visual aids for students. We designed group activities to provoke voluntary wayfinding behavior and their social interaction: 1) A group run, called Circle-Run, promotes their cooperative running behaviors; 2) A group game, called Constellation Game, leads to the positive behaviors and stimulates helping behaviors; 3) A group stage, called Otsuka Olympic, helps enhancing motivation in sports events. We have confirmed the feasibility of the proposed environment throughout field studies with children with special needs.

issey-takahashi
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