Multimedia Systems Laboratory

/ Noriaki Asada / Professor
/ William L. Martens / Associate Professor
/ Yasushi Kikuchi / Assistant Professor
/ Jung-pil Shin / Assistant Professor

Recognition, analysis and expression of images and sound are studied in the multimedia systems laboratory. The 3-D motion and the 3-D shapes of the object are analyzed, understood and expressed by computer from the images taken by multi TV camera or video camera in the study of computer vision and/or the 3-D stereovision. Detailed movies can be seen from any angle through the 3-D video system, which is expected to be applied to many fields such as the sports coaching and the recognition of the human facial expression. In the remote sensing, the category classification technique can analyze the land usages from color information of land images. A laboratory member is engaged in the SELENE project, the Japanese lunar explorer mission, to analyze the lunar mineral composition and to investigate the future moon surface land usage. Moreover, by applying this technique to the computer vision, even the living body information of the human being can be known, too.

In the on-line handwriting character recognition system, the fundamental study to use the handwriting letter as the input system of the computer is investigated. The character recognition is one of the most important fields on the image processing. The visualization technique is one way to improve the understandings of the mathematics problems. For example, when examining a three-dimensional graph with complicated function, a four-dimensional graph can be easily recognized, where time, color, sound and so on is introduced as the fourth dimensions. Also, it is very useful to understand the mathematical structure of the function to display zero points and limitation values visibly. Just as 3D graphic rendering can produce realistic views of virtual spaces, so can 3D audio rendering produce realistic sounds for objects and events in those virtual spaces, called "Virtual Acoustic Space". State-of-the-art 3D audio rendering is based upon acoustical measurements.

Laboratory members have participated actively in scientific meetings, both in Japan and abroad. They have presented and participated in seminars, and in presentation of scientific results in fully refereed publications. The laboratory is the coordinator for coursework in astronomical observation by cooled CCD cameras. Students learn how to use equipment to get some data into computer system, how to process image data, how to analyze these data and how to study the nature through this courseware project.

Refereed Journal Papers

1. W. L. Martens and A. Yoshida. Augmenting Spoken Telecommunication via Spatial Audio Transformation. The Journal of Three Dimensional Images, vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 169--175, 2000.

2. T. Hayashi and W. L. Martens. The synthesis of low-peak orthogonal-base-set sequences using trigonometric function aliasing. IEICE Transactions Fundamentals, vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 1513--1522, 2001.

3. Jintae Lee and Jung-pil Shin. Modeling Virtual Papers for Dynamic Simulation of Ink Diffusion. Journal of Three Dimensional Images, vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 155-159, Mar. 2001.

4. Jung-pil Shin. A Study on Stroke-to-Stroke Correspondence for On-Line Character Recognition. The Korean Institute of Industry and Technology, Sep. 2000.

5. Jung-pil Shin. Intra- and Inter-Stroke Distance For Online Character Recognition. The Korean Institute of Industry and Technology, Apr. 2001.

6. A. Yoshida and W. L. Martens. Whisper Function: An Audio Transformation for Conveying a Confided Speech Message in a Multi-User Virtual Environment. IEICE Tohoku Branch Conference, Jan. 2000.

7. A. Marui and W. L. Martens. Perceptual and Semantic Scaling for User-Centered Control Over Distortion-Based Guitar Effects. Proceedings of the 110th International Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, May 2001.

8. K. Honno, W. L. Martens and M. Cohen. Psychophysically-derived control of source range for the Pioneer Sound Field Controller. Proceedings of the 110th International Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, May 2001.

9. A. Marui and W. L. Martens. Individual Differences in User Preference for Distortion-Based Guitar Effects. Proceedings of the 10th Regional Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, June 2001.

1. W. L. Martens. The role of psychophysical research in the development of virtual acoustic rendering technology. Proceedings of the 7th Western Pacific Regional Acoustics Conference, pp. 287--292, Acoustical Society of Japan, Kumamoto, Japan, Oct. 2000.

2. W. L. Martens. Efficient auralization of small, cluttered spaces: Simulating sonic obstructions at close range. Proceedings of the 7th Western Pacific Regional Acoustics Conference, pp. 317--320, Acoustical Society of Japan, Kumamoto, Japan, Oct. 2000.

3. W. L. Martens, C. A. Marasinghe, C. N. W. Giragama and A. P. Madurapperuma. Topic-dependent adjective use in Japanese and Sinhala: Selection of adjectives differentiating guitar sounds. The 7th International Workshop on Human Interface Technology, pp. 27--34, Aizu, Japan, Nov. 2000.

4. W. L. Martens, Y. Watanabe and A. Marui. A User-centered Control Structure for Guitar Effects Processing: Mapping Between Perceptual Dimensions and Semantic Dimensions. The 7th International Workshop on Human Interface Technology, pp. 35--44, Aizu, Japan, Nov. 2000.

5. W. L. Martens. Psychoacoustically-Based Control of Auditory Range: Display of Virtual Sound Sources in the Listener's Personal Space. International Conference on Information Society in the 21st Century: Emerging Technologies and New Challenges, pp. 288--294, Aizu, Japan, Nov. 2000.

6. W. L. Martens. Pseudophonic listening in reverberant environments: Implications for optimizing auditory display for the human user of a telerobotic listening system. International Conference on Information Society in the 21st Century: Emerging Technologies and New Challenges, pp. 269--275, Aizu, Japan, Nov. 2000.

7. W. L. Martens. Uses and misuses of psychophysical methods in the evaluation of spatial sound reproduction. Proceedings of the 110th International Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 2001.

8. Jungpil Shin and Jintae Lee and Shunji Mori. Segmentation Algorithm for On-line Cursive Hangul Recognition. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Human and Computer, pp. 115-120, Sept. 2000.

9. Jintae Lee and Jung-pil Shin. Synthesizing Diffused Images on Oriental Paper Model. Proceedings of the International Conference on Imaging Science, System, and Technology, pp. 291-295, CSREA Press, June 2000.

10. Jintae Lee and Jung-pil Shin. Modeling Virtual Papers for Dynamic Simulation of Ink Diffusion. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Human and Computer, pp. 166-170, Sept. 2000.

11. Jungpil Shin. Stroke Correspondence Search for On-Line Character Recognition Using Intra- and Inter-Stroke Information. International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, CSREA Press, June 2001.

12. Jungpil Shin. Online Cursive Hangul Character Recognition Based on Dynamic Programming. Sixth International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition, Sept. 2001.

1. William L. Martens. AY 2000 University of Aizu Competitive Research Funding, General Research, Software Department, Teleconverse Project.

2. Jung-pil Shin. Ministry of Education Scientific Research Fund, Encouragement Research (A), Information Science, and Intelligence Information Science, Thesis No. 12780290.

1. William L. Martens. Audio area editor for the International Journal of Virtual Reality (1994.9 - ).

2. William L. Martens. Member of AES Technical Committee on Perception and Subjective Evaluation of Audio Signals.

3. William L. Martens. Co-Chairman of Session at the 7th Western Pacific Regional Acoustics Conference, 2000.

4. William L. Martens. Co-Chairman of Session at the 2000 International Conference on Information Society in the 21st Century.

5. William L. Martens. Panel Member for IEEE-VR 2001 Conference.

1. Y. Shiba. Masters Thesis: Realization of efficient procedures for real time music-driven animation. University of Aizu, Feb. 2000, Thesis Advisor: W. L. Martens.

2. Mori, Y., Graduation Thesis: Realtime Synchronization between Graphics and MIDI in Open Inventor. Univ. of Aizu, 2000, Thesis Advisor: W. L. Martens.

3. Itou, T., Graduation Thesis: Adjectives Used by Native Speakers of Japanese to Describe the Subjective Impression of English Vowel Sounds. Univ. of Aizu, 2000, Thesis Advisor: W. L. Martens.

4. Terashima, A., Graduation Thesis: The Effects of Synchronization for Realtime Music-Driven Animation. Univ. of Aizu, 2000, Thesis Advisor: W. L. Martens.

5. Saitou, A., Graduation Thesis: Engineering of Visual Music for Realtime Music-Driven Animation. Univ. of Aizu, 2000, Thesis Advisor: W. L. Martens.

6. Tanaka, S., Graduation Thesis: A 3D Graphic User Interface for Percussion Performance: Realtime Event-Driven Graphic Animation and MIDI Synthesis. Univ. of Aizu, 2000, Thesis Advisor: W. L. Martens.

7. Yamaoka, S., Graduation Thesis: Realtime Music-Driven Animation with Variable Frame Rate and User Controllable Smoothing. Univ. of Aizu, 2000, Thesis Advisor: W. L. Martens.

8. Yutaka Kanno. Graduation Thesis: On-Line Handwriting Character Dictionary Generation. Univ. of Aizu, 2001, Thesis Advisor: Jung-pil Shin.

9. Masahiko Takaoka. Graduation Thesis: A Preliminary Study of On-Line Signature Verification. Univ. of Aizu, 2001, Thesis Advisor: Jung-pil Shin.

10. Katsuhiro Nakahira. Graduation Thesis: Inter-stroke Distance for On-line Character Recognition. Univ. of Aizu, 2001, Thesis Advisor: Jung-pil Shin.

11. Kazuya Nawata. Graduation Thesis: Stroke-Order Analysis for On-Line Japanese Character. Univ. of Aizu, 2001, Thesis Advisor: Jung-pil Shin.

12. Youhei Yamaguchi. Graduation Thesis: Stroke-Connection Analysis for On-Line Japanese Character. Univ. of Aizu, 2001, Thesis Advisor: Jung-pil Shin.