Yuta Sugiura

• Keio University

Earphone-type wearable devices, also known as “hearables,” will have many functions in the future. Some of those functions will require authentication of the wearer for access to the user's privacy information or settlement of payments. In this study, we propose a new personal authentication system for hearables called EarLock. EarLock authenticate...

Objectives Advances in diagnosing carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) using ultrasonography (US) and artificial intelligence (AI) aim to replace nerve conduction studies. However, a method for accurate severity diagnosis remains unachieved. We explored the potential of comprehensive video data formats for constructing an effective model for diagnosing CTS...

The violin is one of the most popular musical instruments, but mastering it requires a significant amount of practice time. The bowing action (pressure, position, speed) of the right hand is crucial in determining tonal quality, but this is difficult to master. This study compared the bowing movements, specifically bow pressure, bow position, and b...

In this research, we aim to realize cushion interface for operating smart home. We designed user-defined gestures using cushion and developed gesture recognition system. We asked some users to make gestures using cushions for operating home appliances and determined user-defined gesture sets. We developed two methods for gesture identification. The...

Hearables are highly functional earphone-type wearables; however, existing input methods using stand-alone hearables are limited in the number of commands, and there is a need to extend device operation through hand gestures. In previous research on hearables for hand input, user understanding and gesture recognition systems have been developed. Ho...

Guiding users with limb exercise can assist in muscle training or physical recovery. However, traditional vision-based methods often require multiple camera angles to help users understand the motions and require them to be within the range of the screen. Therefore, we propose a non-visual system that can guide users with multiple-directional limb...

In recent years, virtual sensing techniques have been extensively studied as a method of data collection in simulated virtual spaces for the development of human activity recognition (HAR) systems. To date, this technique has enabled the transformation between different modalities, significantly expanding datasets that are typically difficult to co...

In this paper, we propose IrOnTex, an approach to design, fabricate, and prototype customizable interactive textiles by ironing 3D printed elements directly onto fabrics. Our method incorporates multiple filament types to demonstrate functionalities such as electrical conductivity, sensing, and thermo- and photo-sensitivity for interactive applicat...

Unlabelled: We developed a finger motion-based diagnostic system for carpal tunnel syndrome by analysing 10 second grip-and-release test videos. Using machine learning, it estimated presence of carpal tunnel syndrome (89% sensitivity and 83% specificity) and correlated with severity on nerve conduction studies (coefficient 0.68). Level of evidenc...

Human activities can introduce variations in various environmental cues, such as light and sound, which can serve as inputs for interfaces. However, one often overlooked aspect is the airflow variation caused by these activities, which presents challenges in detection and utilization due to its intangible nature. In this paper, we have unveiled an...

Our vision is to detect hand disorders through daily behaviors so that people can unconsciously perform screening for the disorders without any additional actions being needed. To realize this vision, we employed mobile devices and focused on screening using two types of daily behaviors: writing and mobile game manipulations.

Early detection of cervical myelopathy (CM) is important for a favorable outcome, as its prognosis is poor when left untreated. We developed a screening method for CM using machine learning-based analysis of the drawing behavior of 38 patients with CM and 66 healthy volunteers. Using a stylus pen, the participants traced three different shapes disp...

Objective Early detection and intervention are essential for the mitigation of degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). However, although several screening methods exist, they are difficult to understand for community-dwelling people, and the equipment required to set up the test environment is expensive. This study investigated the viability of a D...

As one of the most natural user behaviors, walking has been widely focused on developing personal identification systems due to its unique biometric authentication features. Popular visual solutions are usually affected by various environmental conditions, and their redundant user information (e.g., body type and appearance) makes it more challengi...

Early detection of cervical myelopathy (CM) is important for a favorable outcome, as its prognosis is poor if left untreated. We developed a screening method for CM using machine learning to analyze a drawing behavior. A total of 38 patients with CM and 66 healthy volunteers were enrolled. Using a stylus pen, they traced three different shapes disp...

Smartphones are indispensable devices in our daily lives. And, text input is one of the most common smartphone operations. However, it is difficult to input text while grasping an object, so a text input method that can be used under such conditions is needed. In this study, we propose a method to identify the gesture of writing with the thumb on t...

In traditional Japanese-style rooms, tatamis are used as flooring material. People are in continuous contact with the floor surface. Therefore, it can measure our daily activities through the floor surface. In this study, we propose a method of converting tatamis into touch sensors by measuring capacitance to obtain information related to the floor...

Background Cervical myelopathy is a progressive disease, and early detection and treatment contribute to prognosis. Evaluation of cervical intervertebral instability by simple X-ray is used in clinical setting and the information about instability is important to understand the cause of myelopathy, but evaluation of the intervertebral instability b...

BACKGROUND As cervical myelopathy (CM) is a progressive disease, early detection and intervention are essential for its mitigation. While several screening methods exist, they are difficult to understand for community-dwelling people, and the equipment required to set up the test environments is expensive. Thus, a simple screening system is necessa...

BACKGROUND Cervical myelopathy (CM) causes several symptoms such as clumsiness of the hands, and often requires surgery. Screening and early diagnosis of CM are important because some patients are unaware of their early symptoms and consult a surgeon only after their condition has become severe. The 10-second hand grip and release (10-s) test is co...

Background Cervical myelopathy (CM) causes several symptoms such as clumsiness of the hands and often requires surgery. Screening and early diagnosis of CM are important because some patients are unaware of their early symptoms and consult a surgeon only after their condition has become severe. The 10-second hand grip and release test is commonly u...

Conventional motion tutorials rely mainly on a predefined motion and vision-based feedback that normally limits the application scenario and requires professional devices. In this paper, we propose VoLearn, a cross-modal system that provides operability for user-defined motion learning. The system supports the ability to import a desired motion fro...

With the widespread use of inkjet-printable conductive silver nanoparticle inks, lightweight, thin, and portable wearable displays that combine electrothermal circuit patterns and thermochromic inks have attracted much attention in recent years. Thermochromic displays, which undergo reversible color change according to temperature change, have the...

The performance of a fixed-sensor-based hand gesture recognition system is typically influenced by the position and number of sensors. The traditional development approach to hand gesture recognition systems follows a process of sensor pre-deployment, data collection, and model training, which is highly time-consuming and expensive to calculate how...

Human activity recognition (HAR) systems combined with machine learning normally serve users based on a fixed sensor position interface. Variations in the installing position will alter the performance of the recognition and will require a new training dataset. Therefore, we need to understand the role of sensor position in HAR system design to opt...

When carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), an entrapment neuropathy, becomes severe, thumb motion is reduced, which affects manual dexterity, such as causing difficulties in writing; therefore, early detection of CTS by screening is desirable. To develop a screening method for CTS, we developed a tablet app to measure the stylus trajectory and pressure of...

Study Design Cross-sectional study. Objective To develop a binary classification model for cervical myelopathy (CM) screening based on a machine learning algorithm using Leap Motion (Leap Motion, San Francisco, CA), a novel noncontact sensor device. Summary of Background Data Progress of CM symptoms are gradual and cannot be easily identified by...

In communication, it is important to clearly convey one’s own emotions to others and to accurately read the emotions intended by others. There are two ways to communicate emotions: nonverbal information and verbal information. The psychologist Merhrabian argues that non-verbal information is more important than verbal information, and that visual i...

BACKGROUND Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is an entrapment neuropathy that occurs due to compression of the median nerve as it passes through the carpal tunnel at the wrist joint. The initial symptoms are numbness and sensory disturbance from the thumb to the ring finger. As CTS becomes severe, thumb motion is reduced, which affects manual dexterity....

Background Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a medical condition caused by compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel due to aging or overuse of the hand. The symptoms include numbness of the fingers and atrophy of the thenar muscle. Thenar atrophy recovers slowly postoperatively; therefore, early diagnosis and surgery are important. While...

Grip strength exercises are commonly used rehabilitation methods for recovery of hand function. They are easy to perform even without the direct support of a healthcare professional. However, without objective feedback, the patient may not be fully engaged in the rehabilitation process. To solve this problem, we developed a system for measuring gri...

Cervical myelopathy (CM) is a pathology of the spinal cord that causes upper limb disorders. CM is often screened by conducting the 10-s grip and release (G&R) test, which mainly focuses on hand dysfunction caused by CM. This test has patients repeat gripping and releasing their hands as quickly as possible. Spine surgeons observe the quickness of...

Wearable intelligent systems that recognize the daily activities of humans have significantly contributed to many useful applications. However, in practical wearable applications, the target individuals may have different body conditions and demands in terms of sensor wearing. Sensors may return different information depending on their placement, w...

BACKGROUND Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a medical condition caused by compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel due to aging or overuse of the hand. The symptoms include numbness of the fingers and atrophy of the thenar muscle. Thenar atrophy recovers slowly postoperatively; therefore, early diagnosis and surgery are important. While...

Purpose Measuring range of motion (ROM) in the wrist joint is an essential part of hand and wrist functional evaluations, especially before and after surgery. However, accurate measurements require experience and time. To reduce patient and surgeon burdens related to ROM measurement, a smartphone-based system, which enables participants to measure...

This paper presents a thin digital full-face mask display that can reflect an entire facial expression of a user onto an avatar to support augmented face-to-face communication in real environments. Although camera-based facial expression recognition technology has enabled people to augment their faces with avatars, application was limited to face-t...

The goal of this research is to propose the e2-MaskZ, a mask-type display that changes the user's face to the face of an avatar. The e2-MaskZ is composed of a face-capture mask to recognize the facial expression, and a face-display mask to present the avatar that reflects the recognize expression of the system wearer. 40 photo reflective sensors ar...

In this paper, we propose a method to classify the posture of a driver in a vehicle using time-of-flight (ToF) range sensors and machine learning. Conventionally, to estimate the posture of a driver, there are methods using RGB or depth cameras around the driving seat. However, previous estimation methods needed to handle large data from the camera...

Background: An individual's gait is a key factor for consideration in evaluating their overall health. Several medical studies have demonstrated the correlation between gait and incidence rate of diseases, mortality, and risk of fall. However, gait is only occasionally evaluated during medical visits, which may delay the detection of health proble...

In this paper, we propose a wrist rehabilitation support system using a smartphone app. There are several issues with the conventional wrist rehabilitation systems, primarily that there is no method for quantitatively evaluating whether it has been appropriately carried out or not, that it is difficult for doctors to observe the condition of patien...

We propose a facial expression mapping technology between virtual avatars and Head-Mounted Display (HMD) users. HMDs allow people to enjoy an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experience. A virtual avatar can be a representative of the user in the virtual environment. However, the synchronization of the virtual avatar's expressions with those of the H...

We propose a system that estimates motion in a plush toy by means of an attached sensor device and gives the user a sound feedback corresponding to the predicted motion. We have created several different types of detachable acceleration sensor modules as an accessory for the toy. This module can be attached at any position on a commercially availab...

There have been many studies of gesture recognition and posture estimation by combining real-world sensor and machine learning. In such situations, it is important to consider the sensor layout because the measurement result varies depending on the layout and the number of sensors as well as the motion to be measured. However, it takes time and eff...

Today, cameras have become smaller and cheaper and can be utilized in various scenes. We took advantage of that to develop a thumb tip wearable device to estimate joint angles of a thumb as measuring human finger postures is important in terms of human-computer interface and to analyze human behavior. The device we developed consists of three small...

Our ability to swallow tends to decrease as we grow older. One reason for this is dysphagia, a condition that makes it difficult to swallow food well and causes malnutrition or food aspiration in severe cases. Therefore, preventing dysphagia is important in terms of maintaining quality of life. One way to prevent dysphagia is by using a throat rais...

BACKGROUND Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), the most common neuropathy, is caused by a compression of median nerve in the carpal tunnel and is related to aging. The initial symptom is numbness and pain of the median nerve, distributed in the hand area, while thenar muscle atrophy occurs in advanced stages. This atrophy causes failure of thumb motion a...

Background Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), the most common neuropathy, is caused by a compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel and is related to aging. The initial symptom is numbness and pain of the median nerve distributed in the hand area, while thenar muscle atrophy occurs in advanced stages. This atrophy causes failure of thumb motio...

We propose a system of detecting the position of a device embedded with an antenna by sensing the electrical power from a two-dimensional communication (2DC) sheet. The system obtains a characteristic power pattern at each position by sweeping the frequency of the microwave supplied to the 2DC sheet. Our system uses a machine learning technique to...

A wearable device for measuring skin deformation of the fingertip---to obtain contact force when the finger touches an object---was prototyped and experimentally evaluated. The device is attached to the fingertip and uses multiple photo-reflective sensors (PRSs) to measures the distance from the PRSs to the side surface of the fingertip. The sensor...

This paper presents a 3D virtual eyeglasses try-on system for practical use. For fitting eyeglasses in a shop, consumers wish to look at themselves in a mirror while trying on various eyeglass styles. However, for people who need to wear eyeglasses for correcting problems with eyesight, it is impossible for them to clearly observe their face in the...

This paper presents a method to measure foot shape from a 3D point cloud as input captured from multiple directions using a smartphone depth camera. Such a 3D point cloud could potentially include noise or omit parts of the foot due to occlusion. To deal with this occlusion problem, we propose to use a dataset of 3D foot shapes collected by a preci...

"Carpal tunnel syndrome(CTS)" is a disease where the fingers turn numb making it challenging to move the thumb. In this paper, we propose a rehabilitation support system for patients with CTS using a smartphone app. Conventional rehabilitation programs for CTS are often boring and are challenging for medical doctors to observe the patient's conditi...

We present a system that facilitates asymmetric collaboration among users with two different viewpoints in the design of living or working spaces. One viewpoint is that of the space designers, who observe and alter the space from a top-down view using a large table-top interface. The other viewpoint is that of a space occupant, who observes the spa...

We propose a wearable projection system that displays both public and private information concurrently. The system is composed of a 2-layer forearm mounted screen and a head worn device which projects images on the screen. The screen can be switched between two modes, light-diffusing mode, where projected image is visible to the surrounding viewers...

The purpose of this study is sensing movements of 100-m runners from video that is publicly available, for example, Internet broadcasts. Normally, information that can be obtained from a video is limited to the number of steps and average stride length. However, our proposed method makes it possible to measure not only this information, but also ti...

In sports performance analysis, it is important to understand differences between experts and novices in order to train novices in an efficient manner. To understand these differences within the game of tennis, we developed a virtual environment to analyze the responses of experts and novices to services. By capturing actual service motions of an e...

The photo reflective sensor (PRS), a tiny distant-measurement module, is a popular electronic component widely used in wearable user-interfaces. An unavoidable issue of such wearable PRS devices in practical use is the need of user-independent training to have high gesture recognition accuracy. Each new user has to re-train a device by providing ne...