Faculty

Masataka Imura

Major research fields

MasatakaImuraVirtual Reality, Human Computer Interaction, Biomedical Engineering

Virtual reality is a technology that creates an artificial environment through various sensory stimuli produced by a computer. Based on virtual reality and other interactive technologies, our research goal is to provide natural and intuitive interaction between the human and computer and to improve the quality of our daily life which is now inseparable from information technology.

The virtual reality system consists of mainly three parts: sensing, simulation, and display. First, sensing of users and real environments is required for input to the virtual environment. Signal processing and image analysis are typical fundamental technologies to achieve this. Second, the computer simulation of the virtual world is executed in real-time based on physical laws. Third, the rendering and displaying technologies present the result of the simulation to the users through the user’s senses. Also we should understand the physiological and cognitive characteristics of human beings to efficiently stimulate human stimuli. To develop a virtual environment with consistency, these technologies must be unified. We have wide range of application fields, for instance, biomedical engineering, disaster management, telecommunication, scientific visualization, entertainment, and so on.

Major relevant publications

  1. S. Nagasaka, Y. Uranishi, S. Yoshimoto, M. Imura, O. Oshiro: Haptylus: Haptic Stylus for Interaction with Virtual Objects behind a Touch Screen. Proceeding of SIGGRAPH Asia, Emerging Technologies, Article 9 (2014).
  2. S. Yoshimoto, Y. Kuroda, M. Imura, O. Oshiro: Spatially Transparent Tactile Sensor Utilizing Electromechanical Properties of Skin. Advanced Biomedical Engineering, vol. 1, pp.89-97 (2012).
  3. A. Yagi, M. Imura, Y. Kuroda, O. Oshiro: 360-Degree Fog Projection Interactive Display. Proceedings of SIGGRAPH Asia, Emerging Technologies, Article 19 (2011).