Faculty Introduction

WATANABE, Hiroki

Associate Professor
Research Fields
Wearable computing, ubiquitous computing, human-computer interaction, activity recognition
Academic Background
Hokkaido University
Subjects in Charge (Undergraduate)
Wearable computing, ubiquitous computing, human-computer interaction, activity recognition
Degree
Ph.D. in Engineering

Message for Students

Try everything that interests you.

Research Contents

I am promoting research on the use of wearable computers to improve the quality of our lives. I am particularly interested in sound-based systems, and my research focuses on human activity recognition technology to enable computers to recognize the user context accurately, information presentation technology to appropriately present information from the computer to the user, and human augmentation technology to extend human capabilities through computers.

Attractive Factors of My Research

Formulating and presenting ideas that people have yet to think of or notice is fascinating. It is both challenging and exciting to give form to these ideas in a logical way rather than just thinking of them.

Achievement

【Award】

  • IPSJ Yamashita SIG Research Award (Mar. 2015)
  • Microsoft Research Asia Academic Day 2019, Increasing Productivity Award (Nov. 2019)
  • IPSJ Symposium Interaction 2020, Best Paper Award (Mar. 2020)
  • IPSJ Journal Specially Selected Paper (June 2022)
  • IPSJ Yamashita SIG Research Award (Mar. 2021)
  • IPSJ Outstanding Paper Award (June 2022)

【Research Budget】

  • Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists, 4,030K JPY (FY2018–2021)
  • Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), 4,160K JPY (FY2021–2025)
  • JST PRESTO, 40,000K JPY (Estimate) (FY2021–2024)

Major Books and Papers

  • Hiroki Watanabe, Tsutomu Terada, and Masahiko Tsukamoto: Ultrasound-based Movement Sensing, Gesture-, and Context-recognition, Proc. of the 17th International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC 2013), pp. 57-64 (Sep. 2013).
  • Takashi Amesaka, Hiroki Watanabe, and Masanori Sugimoto: Facial Expression Recognition Using Ear Canal Transfer Function, Proc. of the 23rd International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC 2019), pp. 1–9 (Sep. 2019).
  • 渡邉拓貴, 寺田 努: ウェアラブルコンピューティングにおける周波数操作による聴力自在化技術の提案, 情報処理学会論文誌, Vol. 62, No. 2, pp. 617–630 (Feb. 2021).
  • Hiroki Watanabe and Tsutomu Terada: Manipulatable Auditory Perception using Frequency Manipulation in Wearable Computing, IPSJ Journal, Vol. 62, No. 2, pp. 617–630 (Feb. 2021) (in Japanese).
  • Hiroki Watanabe, Hiroaki Kakizawa, and Masanori Sugimoto: User Authentication Method using Active Acoustic Sensing, Journal of Information Processing (JIP), Vol. 29, pp. 370–379 (Apr. 2021).
  • Atsushi Ogura, Hiroki Watanabe, Masanori Sugimoto: Device-Free Handwritten Character Recognition Method using Acoustic Signal, Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics (JRM), Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 1082–1095 (Oct. 2021).
  • Takashi Amesaka, Hiroki Watanabe, Masanori Sugimoto, and Buntarou Shizuki: Gesture Recognition Method Using Acoustic Sensing on Usual Garment, Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), Vol. 6, No. 2, Article 41, 27 pages (June 2022).
  • Hiroki Watanabe, Miwa Sumiya, and Tsutomu Terada: Human-Machine Cooperative Echolocation using Ultrasound, IEEE Access, Vol. 10, pp. 125264–125278 (Nov. 2022).
  • Hiroki Watanabe and Tsutomu Terada: Transparency Mode of Hearable Reduces Your Spatial Hearing: Evaluation and Cancelling Method to Restore Spatial Hearing, IEEE Access (Sep. 2023).
  • Hiroki Watanabe and Tsutomu Terada: UltrasonicWhisper: Ultrasound Can Generate Audible Sound in Your Hearable, Proc. of the 27th International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC 2023), pp. 132–134 (Oct. 2023).