Monthly Archives: December 2014

Prof. Rodrigo of Ateneo Visits IMD-Lab

by Marc Ericson C. Santos (D3)

Me, Kato-sensei, Prof. Rodrigo, Yamamoto-sensei and Taketomi-sensei

Marc, Kato-sensei, Prof. Rodrigo, Yamamoto-sensei and Taketomi-sensei

Prof. Ma. Mercedes T. Rodrigo of Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines) visited the IMD lab last December 5, 2014. Prof. Rodrigo is the head of the Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences. In this laboratory, they have worked on various aspects of Intelligent Tutoring Systems. Currently, they are starting a two-year project on developing a mobile/AR game for teaching the history of Manila funded by the Department of Education of the Philippines.

First, Kato-sensei and I had a meeting with her regarding my research. We are currently thinking about a learning scenario that would highlight the effective use of AR in education. We are planning to conduct the experiments in Manila by February and the preparations start from now.

After the meeting, the IMD faculty showed Prof. Rodrigo the various demonstrations of the IMD lab. Here are some of the demonstrations:

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Yamamoto-sensei demostrating the lab’s projection-based systems

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Taketomi-sensei demontrating the tablet-based AR system for supporting factory work.

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Kato-sensei demonstrating a Magic Pop-up Book

After the meeting, we had lunch with Prof. Rodrigo’s former students who are now NAIST students. Over lunch, she told us how impressed she is of the IMD lab’s demos and that she will share what she learned to her students in her HCI classes.

Reg (Prof. Rodrigo's husband), Prof. Rodrigo, Michael (Ito-ken), Enzo (Yokoya-ken), Me chatting at the NAIST cafeteria

Reg (Prof. Rodrigo’s husband), Prof. Rodrigo, Michael (Ito-ken), Enzo (Yokoya-ken), and Marc chatting at the NAIST cafeteria

The 22nd International Conference on Computers in Education

by Marc Ericson C. Santos (D3)

That's me at the ICCE2014 Conference.

That’s me at the ICCE2014 Conference.

First, I’d like to introduce this conference. The International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE) is managed by the Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education (APSCE) which was founded in 2004 as an independent academic society whose broad objective is to promote the conduct and communication of scientific research related to all aspects of the use of computers in education, especially within the Asia-Pacific. I am interested in this conference because I believe that AR and HCI researchers must actively engage scholars from Education Technology in order to find relevant applications of our inventions. Of course, relevant applications may also lead to opening up new research directions. I am also interested in this conference because of the special emphasis on research for the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan and the Philippines.

This year, I’m fortunate to be included among the 39 full papers out of the 155 full paper submission. Aside from the full papers, there were 56 short papers and 37 posters. There was so much variety in the topics because there were seven sub-conferences in this event. The proceedings of ICCE 2014 can be found here. You can read my full paper here, and my poster here.

I think the ICCE conference is also interested in new technologies such as the use of Oculus Rift, Kinect, and relevant AR technology. Several works on this topic were reported in the sub-conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, Open Educational Content, and Standards. Also, one of the keynote speakers was Yvonne Rogers who publishes actively in HCI conferences like CHI and UIST. She presented her laboratory’s work on ubiquitous computing, especially with handheld devices and how to make these handhelds promote collaboration (given that the norm is to consume content individually on these personal devices).

For my paper and poster presentations, I was able to gather some important feedback on how I conduct my analysis for the experiments. I realized that I need to learn more about the various categories of knowledge. By categorizing knowledge, I can make better experimental design, and conduct better analysis that would hopefully lead to better insight in the benefits of an AR system to how humans consume information.

Here are some pictures at the ICCE conference:

The conference was held at the New Public Hall near Nara Park in Nara, Japan. The location is around 45 minutes from NAIST by train minus the walking.

The conference was held at the New Public Hall near Nara Park in Nara, Japan. The location is around 45 minutes from NAIST by train minus the walking.

Gagaku Performance by Tenri Universisty Students at the Noh Theatre

Gagaku Performance by Tenri Universisty Students at the Noh Theatre

The bosses and this years organizing committee

The bosses and this years organizing committee.

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Jayzon (former IMD intern), Prof. Rodrigo (Ateneo de Manila University), Asai-sensei (Open University of Japan), Me, Michelle, Yancy and Miggy (grad students from Ateneo) at the banquet held at Nikko Nara Hotel

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Yvonne Roger’s keynote on the sacred Noh Theatre

 

Internship at University of Oulu

Hello. I’m M1 student Seiya Kojima.

I was at University of Oulu in Finland for one month as an internship student.

I was studying with the research group of prof. Petri Pulli in Department of Information Processing Science. The members of this group are mainly focused on support systems for elderly and they develop not only software but also hardware. Therefore, there was a function generator and some other equipment for making electronic circuits. I felt familiar that because my undergraduate major was in electronic engineering.

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This glass device is made from scratch and can be connected to smart phone and provide a navigation service.

 

During my stay, I accomplished many things. One of that was a patent survey. I searched many patents and devices related to movement of eyelids and discussed about them with a student. I found some interesting things such as detection of arousal levels in drivers and contact lens type devices, such as Sight from Google. I was surprised that so many things are already invented.

contactThe device reminded Sight from Google. (Reference: US20130258287 A1)

 

 

I also had some discussions with professors and students about my research. In this university there are people whose research themes are about ethics. For example, “designing and evaluating behavior change support systems” is one of them. Although this kind of research is important for creating a better understanding on persuasive systems there are not so many researches in Japan. The ethics is also important for my research so I got so many valuable information.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERADoctoral defense about persuasive systems.

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Discussion while lunch (sushi!) with prof. Pulli and some researchers.

 

Towards the end of my stay I had the privilege of attending SIGCHI in Finland. The presentation impressed me the most was about devices for healthcare by researchers from POLAR. This topic received lots of attention from people thanks to many different devices. So I think this kind of technology is noteworthy of development and research for our future.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPresentation by a researcher from POLAR.

 

I want to write in more detail but let’s stop here. J

Please don’t be afraid if you also want to study abroad.

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Café lingua : People who want to study Japanese get together on every Wednesday.

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Farewell party held for me. Thank you very much!