Good media content has the power to enrich our lives. Its effectiveness is becoming more and more important in a wide variety of fields, such as industry, education, culture, and entertainment. Expectations of its use in the general public are also increasing. Although the word content might be used to refer to a single image or music we use the broader definition of content.

Content is provided to people through adequate output devices such as displays, such that people derive profound pleasure by interacting with it through an appropriate input device. Through these interactions with content on a computational device people can enhance their hedonistic feeling of satisfaction, happiness and excitement. Moreover, content is not always enjoyed alone but often in the company of others (e.g., friends, family, and so on) simultaneously. In these cases, it is necessary to consider the “environment” in which groups of people enjoy the content and “atmosphere” which is generated by the “environment.” Good interactive content has the potential to calm the “atmosphere” and in the process will often make the people in the environment more happy and friendly.

Thus, we focus on non-traditional content areas other than movies, music, and games, conducting comprehensive research on a variety of interactive content which creates new value through interactions with humans, by considering the atmosphere including the content and human. In this context, the focus of our group is in researching new and innovative techniques to interact with novel forms of content with the goal of enhancing the impact, effectiveness and hedonistic feelings of the content to improve and enrich people’s lives. We focus on non-traditional contents along side more traditional content like movies, music and games.

Topics

  • August 14, 2026

    Our paper, which was presented at ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) 2026 and received an Honorable Mention Award, was featured in JST Science Japan.

    AI and AR help preserve the art of ikebana — New training system aims to make ikebana’s relaxation and mental benefits accessible to all
    https://sj.jst.go.jp/news/202608/n0814-02k.html

  • July 3, 2026

    As a part of the Tohoku University STEM Summer Program 2026 (TSSP2026), approximately 20 students from the United States and the United Kingdom visited our laboratory.
    After a lecture by Professor Kitamura, our laboratory members guided the visitors through the lab and introduced our research with demonstrations.
    The visit concluded with an engaging discussion and exchange of ideas between the students and our lab members.

  • June 25, 2026

    We welcomed Dr. Toshikazu Kuroda and Dr. Takeshi Ogawa from the Dynamic Brain Imaging, Cognitive Mechanisms Laboratories, Brain Information Communication Research Laboratory Group, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR), who gave research talks at our laboratory.
    The lectures were titled “Behavior: How to Conceptualize it, Measure it, and Analyze it” and “Development of a brain-state prediction method based on EEG-fMRI simultaneous measurement and its application”.
    They also visited our laboratory facilities, where we had a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss various research topics.

  • June 23, 2026

    We welcomed Distinguished Professor Chia-Wen Lin from National Tsing Hua University, who gave a lecture on the topic of “AI-Powered IC Design”.
    In the lecture, Professor Lin introduced cutting-edge technologies for AI-driven IC design and manufacturing support, as well as the latest research achievements toward their practical applications.
    Professor Lin also discussed the potential of next-generation EDA technologies enabled by the fusion of AI and semiconductor design.

  • June 16, 2026

    Assistant Professor Lin Gu Invited to AI4X Accelerate Conference 2026 as an AI for Science Awardee

    Assistant Professor Lin Gu has been invited to participate in AI4X Accelerate Conference 2026 as one of the awardees of Singapore’s AI for Science (AI4S) initiative.

    AI4S is a landmark S$120 million (approximately ¥14 billion) national initiative spearheaded by the National Research Foundation to transform scientific discovery through artificial intelligence. The program brings together leading AI researchers and domain experts from top institutions in Singapore and around the world to tackle major scientific challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration.

    Dr. Gu is a co-lead investigator of an AI4S project focused on developing foundation models and world models for fusion plasma science. By integrating large-scale AI models with scientific data and domain knowledge, the project aims to advance the understanding, prediction, and control of fusion plasmas while accelerating the process of scientific discovery.

    AI for Science: NUS leads cutting-edge research with 4 major AI-based projects to fast-track science and technology

    Singapore using AI to hasten the discovery of recipes for next-gen semiconductors, clean hydrogen | The Straits Times

  • June 13-17, 2026

    Research Fellow Xiyue WANG and M2 student Akira Murakami each gave oral presentations on two papers accepted for ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) 2026, held in Singapore. Xiyue WANG’s paper received the Honorable Mention Award.

    Dr. Xiyue WANG also gave a demonstration of the content of the paper she presented.

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