Shigeaki Maruyama

A huge amount of information is distributed at higher and higher speed on networks as a result of the rapid expansion of the information infrastructure. The baud rate of a modem of only 15 years ago was 14.4 k bps, but it is now 100 Mbps, 7000 times faster. Furthermore, the variety of Web content is also getting wider and wider.

On the other hand the way that information is exchanged between users and computers has not advanced at the same pace. The display devices, mice, and keyboards used today are virtually the same as those used 15 years ago. I wonder if we can interact with a computerized database in a way that mirrors communication in the real world: not only by seeing and hearing, but also is touching, smelling, and tasting. This kind of communication involves instantly making substantial objects from a computerized database.

As the first step is bringing this idea to fruition, I am now developing UI devices that give a haptic sensation to users as well as provide them with visual and audio information.