© 2020, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. We have focused on the unconscious movements of participants. Previously, we checked all video off-line to obtain the frequencies of participants’ movement. Although we could discuss the relationship between the subjective ratings of participants and the frequencies of the unconscious movements, we recognized that the visual judgment was too heavy for us to carry out. Thus, in this paper, we installed the body pressure measurement system. First, we analyzed time-series data of participant’s body pressures on the seat during some typical movements. As a result, we found the relationship between the movement types and the characteristics of the COP trajectories. Next, we carried out the driving simulator experiments. When we made a comparison between the frequency with the visual inspection of video images and those counted with the body pressure data, we found that there were some false detections with the analysis of the body pressure data.

& #x00A9; 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. To evaluate human discomfort in a vehicle seat, we have focused on the involuntary movements of participants. In our previous studies, we carried out the driving simulator experiment to investigate a change in human discomfort during 60 min of traveling. In the experiment, we video-recorded the participant’s movements and checked all video off-line to obtain the frequencies of participants’ movement. Consequently, we could discuss the relationship between the subjective ratings of participants and the frequencies of the involuntary movements. However, we recognized that the visual judgment was too heavy for us to carry out. Thus, we have developed other methods to detect involuntary movements. In this paper, we proposed the unrestrained method with flex sensors, and we reported the comparison result between the subjective discomfort and the frequency of the involuntary index as an objective index.

These are many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are synthesized, produced from petroleum or derived from natural compounds, mostly plants. Fragrant and volatile organic compounds from plants have been used as food additives, medicines and aromatherapy. Several clinical and pathological studies have shown that chronic abuse of VOCs, mainly toluene, causes several neuropsychiatric disorders. Little is known about the mechanisms of neurotoxicity of the solvents. n-Octanal, nonanal, and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, which are used catalyzers or intermediates of chemical reactions, are released into the environment. Essential oils have the functions of self-defense, sterilization, and antibiosis in plants. When volatile organic compounds enter the body, there is the possibility that they will pass through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and affect the central nervous system (CNS). However, the direct effects of volatile organic compounds on neural function and their toxicities are still unclear. We compared the toxicities of n-octanal, nonanal and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol with those of five naturally derived fragrant organic compounds (FOCs), linalool, cis-3-hexen-1-ol, isoamyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol and n-phenethyl alcohol. MTT assay of human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells showed that the IC< inf> 50< /inf> values of linalool, cis-3-hexen-1-ol, isoamyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol and phenethyl alcohol were 1.33, 2.3, > 5, > 5, and 2.39mM, respectively, and the IC< inf> 50< /inf> values of toluene, n-octanal, nonanal and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol were 850, 37.2, 8.31 and 15.1μM, respectively. FOCs showed lower toxicities than those of VOCs. These results indicate that FOCs are safer than other compounds.

This paper describes some experiments on the positional accuracy of active touch. Plate surfaces having a gradational unevenness pattern are prepared. The gradational pattern consists of many dots. First, the condition of natural gradation is investigated. The height and pitch of the dots are constant, and their diameters are intergraded. The condition of the logarithmically changing diameter of the dots is evaluated as the natural pattern when the participants touch these dots. Then, the positional accuracy of active touch between a gradationally patterned plate and a smooth plate is compared. Further, the positional accuracy of the gradationally patterned plate is compared to that of a control switch using a lever. As a result, we conclude that the gradationally patterned plate can control the position of a fingertip more accurately than the other plate and switch. Moreover, the results obtained in both the abovementioned cases are significantly different statistically.

ISO 2631-1, which defines the methods for the measurement and evaluation of humans' exposure to whole-body vibration, describes factors that contribute to discomfort from vibration. Moreover, Annex C of ISO 2631-1 ("Guide to the effects of vibration on comfort and perception") states that "the reactions at various magnitudes depended on passenger expectancies with regards to trip duration and the type of activities passengers expect to accomplish (e.g., reading, eating, writing, etc.) and many other factors (acoustic noise, temperature, etc.)." However, only a few studies have been conducted on the effects of sound and visual images on whole-body vibration perception. Therefore, we developed a virtual driving system that easily simulates and can be used to clarify the extent to which visual images and acoustic noise contribute to vibration discomfort. This paper discusses our psychometric experiments using the driving simulator. In this study, as the first trial, two types of auditory stimuli and visual stimuli were prepared. Under the conditions of these stimuli combinations, the subjects were exposed to whole-body vibration while driving virtually on a road with various speed bumps. We summarized the relationship between the stimulus condition and subjects' assessments. The results suggested that the visual and auditory stimuli affect the subjects' sense of vibration.

This study explains that a method utilizing the eigen spaces obtained by the KL transform for automatic recognition by camera of the speed on a speed limit sign has the following advantages: it is robust in response to changes in intensity patterns caused by the direction the sign is facing and by the amount of light striking the sign, and it is able to reduce the recognition processing time by reducing the number of feature vector dimensions during analysis. The method for recognition of traffic signs previously proposed by the authors of this study was a method for recognition based on extracting geometric shapes from the sign and recognizing them based on their aspect ratios. As such, this method was not able to identify the numbers on a speed limit sign, all of which have identical aspect ratios. It will be shown that the method in this study is able to recognize nearly all speed limits indicated on traffic signs within several 100s of ms after image acquisition. This method was applied to still images and its effectiveness was verified from the perspective of the following requirements for providing accurate information concerning the vehicle surroundings to the driver: high processing speed, high recognition accuracy, detection of all detectable objects without omission, and robustness in response to changes in the surrounding environment.

ISO 2631-1, which defines the acceptable standard of body vibration, constitutes the generally accepted criteria for evaluating whole-body vibration as a part of overall in-vehicle comfort. Annex C of ISO 2631-1 (''Guide to the effects of vibration on comfort and perception'') states that "the reactions at various magnitudes depended on passenger expectancies with regards to trip duration and the type of activities passengers expect to accomplish (e.g., reading, eating, writing, etc.) and many other factors (acoustic noise, temperature, etc.)". Although previous studies have reported factors contributing to the discomfort from vibration, some studies on the effects of sound and visual images (i.e., audio-visual stimulation) on whole-body vibration perception have been reported recently. In order to validate the effect of sound and visual images on whole-body vibration evaluation, the multi-modal simulator or the driving simulator is necessary to perform the psychometric experiments. We developed a new driving simulator for the psychometric experiments. In this study, the hardware specification and control system of the driving simulator are described first. Then, we described plans for a psychometric experiment using the driving simulator to obtain data for the revision of the ISO 2631-1 standard.

This paper describes the Adaptive Cruise Control system (ACC), a system which reduces the driving burden on the driver. The ACC system primarily supports four driving modes on the road and controls the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle in order to maintain a set speed or to avoid a crash. This paper proposes more accurate methods of detecting the preceding vehicle by radar while cornering, with consideration for the vehicle sideslip angle, and also of controlling the distance between vehicles. By making full use of the proposed identification logic for preceding vehicles and path estimation logic, an improvement in driving stability was achieved.

In the research field of intelligent transportation systems (ITS), various suggestions have been made concerning road signs which can be automatically recognized by driver-support systems. A most all of the methods proposed for road sign identification and recognition are processes performed using an instantaneously-acquired static image. As a result, the processing time is a problem. The method which this paper proposes assumes the use of an on-board camera, and involves processing of a dynamic image, allowing effective processing in case when the sign is temporarily hidden by another object. In addition, this paper proposes a simple algorithm for sign detection and recognition that reduces the amount of required calculation. In this paper, nine kinds of signs, such as "STOP," "NO ENTRY" and "NO PASSAGE" were prepared, each 1/3 the size of the actual signs. Experiments were then carried Out for recognition of these signs under various kinds of measurement conditions.

Rapid advances in robot technology have been made in recent years. In connection with these advances, robots are expected to be utilized in a variety of places and environments. This study describes 1) a method which allows a robot to measure the location of its destination in the real world based on an image obtained from a single camera, and 2) a method of navigating a robot to a destination which is selected by a user on a display showing the forward robot view. Consideration is also given to cases in which there are obstacles between the robot and the destination. Through the use of reinforcement learning, which is considered a promising candidate among autonomous control techniques, the roving robot tries to find the shortest way to the destination based on information concerning the locations of obstacles and the destination. This study also describes an image-based method of measuring a selected location, the results from a simulation of path finding using reinforcement learning, and the results from an experiment of navigation in a real environment. Finally, a summary of the main conclusions is provided. © 2009 IEEE.

With the aging of Japanese population, various welfare equipment such as rehabilitation apparatus have been developed widely to prevent deterioration of the disease and to recover the health. It is desired to develop the suitable equipment for each human having different character and condition, since many of them are mass-produced and general-purpose tools. Then the new rehabilitation machines, which control the power in accordance with the user condition by introducing a biological monitor and feedback system of the signal, is proposed as safety and pleasant training tool. Here the basic research was carried out for such idea by using rehabilitation training machine “leg press” with the aim of strengthening antigravity muscles of the leg by the training. Biological signal and information during the machine training were measured for younger generation as well as elder person, and the relation between muscle force suffered from the external load and comfortableness as an internal reaction of the body was examined. Here the content of α wave from the pattern of electrical brain waves in electroencephalography (EEG), and skin temperature of the face were measured for the evaluation of comfortableness, while electromyography (EMG) is used to measure the muscle strength.

In the research field of the intelligent transportation system (ITS) and the roving robot, the driver-support system auto-recognizing road sings and the robot control system auto-recognizing behavior-indication signs are variously suggested. Both systems use the dynamic image processing to acquire features such as the shape and design of sings. Artificial sings valid for the machine vision are sometimes used for these researches. However, in this study, the general road sings adopted in public roads are used, because machines such as robots and vehicles are supposed to live together in real environments. In this paper, nine kinds of sings one third in size such as "STOP," "NO ENTRY" and "NO PASSAGE" are prepared and then some experiments were carried out to recognize these signs under various kinds of measurement condition. © 2008 IEEE.

In this paper, we discuss the formulation and solution method for multi-objective facility location problem, where each facility supplies the service to lower level facilities and the lowest level facilities supply the service to demand points. we consider the case that subject is not crisp, and we formulate the location problem by introducing the fuzzy concept. We transform the fuzzy facility location problem into the equivalent ordinary multi-objective facility location problem by defining the membership function which describes the degree of satisfaction for each demand point. It is very difficult to solve the problem formulated as a multi-objective facility location problem, because the optimal locations of each level facility and the optimal allocation of these facilities to other facilities and demands points should be determined simultaneously. Then we propose a heuristic solution method based on Genetic Algorithm(GA). We demonstrate the applicability of the problem and also present the calculation results to show the effectiveness of the algorithm.

We investigated the change of the center of pressure (COP) after forward platform translations in healthy subjects. These studies were performed on 26 normal young subjects and 20 healthy elderly subjects, who had a normal neurologic examination. Subjects stood barefoot on a three dimensional force plate on the platform, with feet parallel. The duration of the forward platform translations was 0.15 s, and the displacements were 3.75, 7.5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 mm. Six trials were carried out at random. The COP data were recorded for 35 s during standing, and were analyzed for 5 s after translation. With the platform translation displacements from 3.75 to 15 mm, displacement of the COP showed a tendency to increase in all subjects. Whereas with the stimuli between 20 and 30 mm, the results were more varied. The elderly group showed significantly (p <0.05) larger sway than the young group. These results indicate that the individual ability of posture control may be assessed by means of measuring the sway of the center of gravity after platform translation. Electromyography was carried out simultaneously, it showed that elderly people contrary to young subjects used proximal biceps femoris and distal foot muscles at an early stage of the platform translation (p <0.05). suggesting lack of ankle stability with aging. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

水平移動刺激を与えた際のCenter of Pressure(COP)計測について検討した.ある移動距離までは距離の増加と共に動揺も増加する傾向が見られた.高齢者群では,若年者群と比較して,動揺に大きな差違が見られ,また被験者間のばらつきが大きかった．

45歳男,41歳男,63歳女.前脛骨筋麻痺をきたし,下垂足を呈した3例を対象としてF-SCANを用いた歩行時の足圧の計測を行った.下垂足を補正する装具の装着により,踏切時の前足部での足圧の上昇が認められ,より正常の足圧パターンに近づくことが確かめられた

アロマテラピーは香りによるリラックス効果など心身の恒常性維持・促進を図る自然療法として知られてきたが，近年，認知症予防など医療分野での応用についての研究が進んでいる．本研究では，覚醒効果やリラックス効果があると言われている物質に着目し，マウスによる行動実験をおこなった．具体的には，定量的な評価をおこなうため，10％DMSO(Dimethyl sulfoxide,ジメチルスルホキシド)を溶媒とした各香り成分を腹腔内へ投与し，自発運動能を計測した．また，香り成分の濃度による違いについても検討したので報告する．

The objectives of this paper are to investigate the effects of auditory feedback and tactile feedback on usability of touch panel and to find out the improving mechanism of touch panel usability. Four kinds of stimulus conditions are prepared with the absence or presence of auditory feedback and vibration feedback. In experiments, subjects are given phone number task under the stimulus conditions. In order to evaluate the usability, task duration is measured by using timer counter function in the touch panels, and eye-fixation duration is measured with an eye tracking system. From the experimental results of 24 subjects, it was found that not only the task duration but also the fixation duration on the touch panel are influenced by the stimulus conditions. Accordingly, the reason why the task duration under the condition with auditory feedback or vibration feedback becomes shorter seems to depend on the fixation duration on the touch panel. Since it is well known that auditory reaction time and tactile reaction time are faster than visual reaction time, it was guessed that subjects could more quickly judge the completion of phone number input by using auditory and tactile senses.

わが国では自動車の安全性能向上により交通事故の件数が減少しているが、高齢人口の増加に伴い、高齢者の事故件数は増加している。高齢者が事故を起こす原因として加齢による認知機能・身体機能の低下がある。著者らはこれまで転倒予防靴下の開発を行ってきた。そして、足関節の背屈を支持し、母趾の外反を抑制する機構を備えた靴下を履くことで、足関節の背屈角度と母趾の伸展角度が増加し、下垂足の軽減に効果がみられ、転倒予防に役立つことが示唆された。他方、今川らは下垂足患者に対し、内反・尖足対策用の軟性短下肢装具を用いた場合の歩容改善について報告している。今回、高齢者が事故を起こす原因の一つである身体機能の低下、すなわち疲労に着目し、足関節と母趾の形状を矯正する靴下を用いて運転時の疲労軽減に関する基礎実験を行った。健常高齢者9名を対象とし、まず普段着用している靴下と従来の軟性短下肢装具(背屈位を支持する装具)を用いた「ペダル踏みかえ実験」、次に今回試作した靴下(内反小趾対策靴下)を用いた同実験を行った。結果、従来の軟性短下肢装具よりも内反小趾対策靴下のほうが精神的負担を感じにくいうえ、姿勢安定性に寄与する可能性が示唆された。

【目的】交通環境では排気ガスをはじめとする悪臭物質が自動車室内へと流れ込んでいる．そこで本研究では自動車の空調システムにおいて異臭原因物質の主成分であるプロピオン酸，吉草酸，酪酸に着目し，各物質がマウスの自発運動能におよぼす影響を調べた．また，定量的な評価をおこなうため，各物質の投与方法は腹腔内への注射による投与とした．【方法】本研究には18週齢のC57BL雄性マウス24匹を用いた．全てのマウスに対し，自発運動能測定システム（Wheel Manager, MED Associates Inc.）を用いて回し車（直径10.9cm）の回転数を60分間測定し，controlデータとした．次に24匹のマウスを，注射の有無による影響を調べるためのリンゲル液投与群，悪臭物質による影響を調べるためのプロピオン酸（1µg/kg）投与群，吉草酸（1µg/kg）投与群，酪酸（0.5µg/kg）投与群の4群各6匹ずつに分けた．なお，4群のcontrolデータにおいて一元配置の分散分析をおこなった結果，各群の間に統計学的な有意差はなかった（P>0.05）．各物質をそれぞれの群のマウスの腹腔内に投与し，controlデータと同様に自発運動能を60分間測定した．各物質の投与による統計学的有意差の検定にはウィルコクソンの符号順位和検定を用いた．【結果および考察】リンゲル液を投与した群では投与の有無による統計学的な有意差はなかった（P>0.05）ため，注射による腹腔内投与の影響はないと判断した．プロピオン酸，吉草酸，酪酸を投与した群では，controlデータと比較して回転数が減少した．とくに酪酸を投与した群においては，統計学的な有意差があった（P<0.05）．本研究を通して，悪臭物質がマウスの自発運動能に影響をおよぼすことがわかった．以上のことから，ヒトにおいても悪臭物質は快／不快の感覚に影響を与えるだけではなく，運動能に影響を与える可能性が示唆された．

カーナビ画面の文字配置が視認性に及ぼす影響について論じている。

カーナビの視認性について論じている。

The purpose of this research is to investigate the load of back muscles in driving the wheelchairs. Two types of wheelchairs were used in this research. One of them was a usual self-propelled wheelchair, other one was a new type with lever devices. These studies were performed on 10 healthy young subjects, who had normal neurological history. Electromyography (EMG) recording was carried out in 8 muscles (trapezius, upper and lower portion of deltoid, latissimus dorsi, triceps brachii, common digital extensor, brachioradialis, flexor digitorum profundus) during driving the wheelchairs. As a result, the EMG data indicated that the load of back muscles was lower during driving the new type of wheelchair than usual one. Additionally, these studies were performed on 4 spinal cord injury victims. However the results of them did not indicate similar trends to healthy subjects.

In the field of research for the intelligent transportation system (ITS) and the roving robot, the driver-support system auto-recognizing road sings and the robot control system auto-recognizing behavior-indication signs are variously suggested. Both systems use the dynamic image processing to acquire features such as the shape and design of sings. Artificial sings valid for the machine vision are sometimes used for these researches. However, this study uses general road sings adopted in public roads, because machines such as robots and vehicles are supposed to be live together in real environments. In this paper, nine kinds of one third of sings for size such as "Stop," "No entry" and "No passage" are prepared, and then some experiments to recognize these signs are carried out under various kinds of measurement condition.

For the design and development of vehicles, it becomes more important than ever to offer the comfortable driving environment. This study focused on the air-conditioning system of a car, and the comfortableness for a driver was evaluated using the bioengineering technology. The experiments were carried out by electroencephalogram measurement and electrocardiograph measurement for a driver near the air conditioning outlet inside the passenger car. As a result, the correlation between the comfortableness and the thermal environment was gained: 1. It became clear to be able to evaluate the amenity using electroencephalogram measurement (content rate of α wave) and electrocardiograph measurement (LF/HF value). Though it is said that it is more comfortable when the LF/HF value is lower, and when the content rate of α wave is higher, both measuring results were well corresponded. 2. It was proven that the peak of the amenity for both data appeared at some temperature (temperature of car's interior or near the air-condition outlet) as experimental results. 3. It was also proven that not only the temperature but also the humidity influence the amenity.

通常の重心動揺検査(静止立位時での検査)では現れにくい高齢者個体間での姿勢安定性の差異が水平移動刺激を与えることで評価できるか検討した.その結果,圧中心動揺による検査,下肢筋電図による検査のいずれについても水平刺激を与える方が個々の姿勢反射能の差異を評価し易いことが示唆された

The purpose of this study is to inspect how the vestibular sensation would be influenced by the visual or the auditory stimulation. A rotatory chair, the 16 speakers and the 4 laser pointers were used for stimulators. These stimulators were placed in the dark anechoic room. From the experiment results, it was found that the perception of rotatory motion was clearly influenced by the moving sound sources and the moving lights in some subjects. However, the other subjects were little influenced. We also examined the reason why the difference of the perceptions between two groups was occurred.