Hiroo Iwata

This paper introduces Art Sensorium Project that is founded in Asia AI Institute of Musashino University. A main target of the project is to design and implement a system architecture of unified art collections for virtual art experiences. To provide art experiences, a projection-based VR system, called Data Sensorium, is used to stage art materials in a form of real-sized virtual reality. Furthermore, a system architecture of a multidatabase system for heterogeneous art collection archives is presented, so a set of integrated art data is applied to Data Sensorium for newly generated art experiences.

When presented with asymmetric vibrations, humans experience an illusory force, similar to the sensation of being pulled in a particular direction. A pulling illusion has also been used in new display elements for a virtual reality content and a pedestrian navigation system. However, the basic design of asymmetric vibration stimuli that can induce this illusion has not yet been determined. In particular, it is unclear as to which part of the vibration waveform should be asymmetric to induce an illusion. To better understand the design of asymmetric vibration stimuli that can induce a pulling illusion, we evaluated the effect of the illusion corresponding to the waveform deformation due to a change in phase difference of asymmetric-vibration frequency components. The results of a psychophysical experiment demonstrate that when the phase differences of the fundamental and second harmonic waves of the asymmetric vibration are close to 0 degrees or -180 degrees, the illusion is more likely to occur. This result implies that the difference in the rate by which the acceleration changes at each polarity contributes to the illusion.

The Bird Song Diamond (BSD) project is a series of multifaceted and multidisciplinary installations with the aim of bringing contemporary research on bird communication to a large public audience. Using art and technology to create immersive experiences, BSD allows large audiences to embody bird communication rather than passively observe. In particular, BSD Mimic, a system for mimicking bird song, asks participants to grapple with both audition and vocalization of birdsong. The use of interactive installations for public outreach provides unique experiences to a diverse audience, while providing direct feedback for artists and researchers interested in the success of such outreach. By following an iterative design process, both artists and researchers have been able to evaluate the effectiveness of each installation for promoting audience engagement with the subject matter. The execution and evaluation of each iteration of BSD is described throughout the paper. In addition, the process of interdisciplinary collaboration in our project has led to a more defined role of the artist as a facilitator of specialists. BSD Mimic has also led to further questions about the nature of audience collaboration for an engaged experience.

<p>This study proposes a semi-voluntarily motion presentation system based on the force applied to the arm swing mechanism in a locomotion interface (LI) that can present arm swing motion in addition to foot motion during walking. It is considered that the device can be operated by using the force of the arm swing even when the user cannot move the foot voluntarily. We performed a comparative experiment of walking with the automatic method and walking with the proposed method. As a result, it was confirmed that there was a difference in the rotation angle of the body, and the usefulness of the semi-automatic LI that moves by swinging the arm was confirmed.</p>