メディアデザイン研究科教授に舘暲氏が就任

Dr. Susumu Tachi has been appointed a professor at KMD.
-Global leader in virtual reality and robotics invited to join faculty-

The Graduate School of Media Design (Dean: Prof Masahiko Inakage), established in April 2008 as part of Keio University commemorating its 150th anniversary, appointed Dr. Susumu Tachi, former-Professor at the Department of Information Physics and Computing of the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, and a leading authority in virtual reality, robotics and information physics, as a full-time professor.

One of his scientific achievements is the invention and development of an intelligent mobile robot system for the blind called Guide Dog Robot (1976-1983), which is the first of its kind. This system is known as MELDOG. In 1980, Dr. Tachi proposed the concept of telexistence, which is a technology enabling a human being to experience a real-time sensation of being at a place distant from his or her actual position; further, he or she can also interact with such a remote environment, which may be real, virtual, or a combination of both. Telexistence became the fundamental guiding principle of the eight-year Japanese National Large Scale Project, “Advanced Robot Technology in Hazardous Environments (1983-1990).” Through this project, he made theoretical considerations, established systematic design procedures, developed experimental hardware telexistence systems such as TELESAR, and demonstrated the feasibility of the concept.

In 2005, he developed a mutual telexistence system TELESAR II, which can generate the effect of a person in a remote place as directly appearing in local space using a combination of the alter-ego robot and Retro-reflective Projection Technology (RPT). He also developed telexistence wide-angle immersive stereoscope (TWISTER), which has a full-color autostereoscopic display with a 360-degree field of view in 2002. Furthermore, he developed a distributed vector-type sensor, called GelForce in 2001.

Prof. Tachi is a founding director and a fellow of the Robotics Society of Japan (RSJ), the President and a fellow of the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE), a fellow of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME), and is the founding President of the Virtual Reality Society of Japan (VRSJ).

From 1988, he has served as Chairman of the IMEKO (International Measurement Confederation) Technical Committee 17 on Measurement in Robotics, and organized several ISMCR (International Symposium on Measurement and Control in Robotics) conferences.

He initiated and founded ICAT (International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence) in 1991 and IVRC (International-collegiate Virtual Reality Contest) in 1993. He is a member of IEEE VR Steering Committee and served as General Chair of IEEE VR 2001 and 2002.

To foster creative global leaders (media innovators) in the field of digital media, Keio University’s Graduate School of Media Design has been inviting leading figures from a broad spectrum of sectors to help it establish an educational and research environment of the highest caliber.

Profile of Susumu Tachi:
Susumu Tachi was born in Tokyo, Japan, on January 1, 1946. He received his B.E., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in mathematical engineering and information physics from the University of Tokyo in 1968, 1970, and 1973, respectively.
He joined the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Tokyo in1973, and in 1975, he moved to the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Tsukuba Science City, Japan, where he served as the Director of Biorobotics Division. In 1989, he rejoined the University of Tokyo, and is currently a Professor at the Department of Information Physics and Computing.
From 1979 to 1980, Dr. Tachi was a Japanese Government Award Seinor Visiting Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
Dr. Tachi has received a number of awards including IEEE EMBS Outstanding Paper Award (1983), IEEE VR Best Paper Awards (2001,2004), ICAT Best Paper Awards (2000, 2004), VRSJ Best Paper Awards (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004), TIME Magazine Coolest Inventions(2003), Laval Mayenne Awards (2003, 2005), Japan Minister of International Trade and Industry Prize (1988), IMEKO Distinguished Service Award (1997), and IEEE Virtual Realty Career Award (2007).
Reference URL: http://tachilab.org/index.php?easiestml_lang=en
Graduate School of Media Design, Keio University (KMD)
This Graduate School was opened in April 2008 as part of Keio University commemorating its 150th anniversary. By fostering leaders in creativity (media innovators) in the globally thriving field of digital media, the Graduate School will develop human resources capable of contributing to world industry and to Japan’s future.
Website: http://www.kmd.keio.ac.jp/index-en.html