物理/バーチャル空間の接続と分離を媒介する可動壁に関する研究

Tohoku University博士（情報科学）thesi

Membranes and Matrices: Architecture as an Interface

What are the implications of digitalization on the role of architecture and our understanding of space? The digital experience is one that is highly customizable, responsive, and interactive. Physical buildings strive to become more connected to their environments and their users, by incorporating these same qualities. Traditional building methods and design principles produce static structures with a defined function and program, an approach which is in conflict with virtual space where functions which once were separated now easily flow and merge into one another. Buildings have the potential to become even more situated within their local by incorporating ideas of interactivity and responsiveness as they become uniquely shaped by their users and local climates. Digitalization therefore has ironically brought the design industries closer to the fields of biology and chemistry as information is seen to be at the core of everything. My proposal is for a public innovation space situated in the new innovation district in downtown Springfield, and will explore issues of privacy, openness, materiality, transparency, and the integration of technology with architecture such that the space itself becomes an interface for exchange

Työpaikan alueet

This thesis aims to propose possible design scenarios for the future of the workplace by investigating the past, present and possible future changes of the relationship between work and architecture. Starting from an analysis of the current social phenomena of temporality and virtual connectivity, the thesis shows how this, consequentially, has originated cases of digital nomadism, co-working and the rediscovery work-life balance in the Western working cultures. The thesis starts by analysing how Western culture has been affected by the increased number of digital platforms, following how Western cities have witnessed a rapid change in the urban fabric. Their need to adapt to a growing request to accommodate shared work facilities and temporary living spaces decreased the sense of stability while increasing the demand to temporary and part-time employment. Despite all, the most relevant change has been the possibility of virtual connections and the opportunity of access to online databases which has created the notion of work-life balance. This has led to a need for redefining the purpose of physical workplace. The first chapter investigates how local working culture is influenced by phenomena such as digital connectivity and shared workspaces. How are the historical European cities and European office traditions adapting to new and modern requests? An in-depth architectural analysis of corporate headquarters and international workspace providers will demonstrate the fracture created by these entities trying to fit into the local context. The second chapter will focus on understanding the contemporary office environment for the digitally connected individual, through a brief review of office history which specifies the digital tools for a modern workplace and the effects of increased workplace autonomy and flexibility. These studies are then furthered by site observations conducted with generous support and advisory of Benjamin Pardo and Knoll Inc., who provided the opportunity to study the modern workplaces in France, Italy, Germany, and United Kingdom as well as facilitated interviews with professionals in the field of design and architecture. In order to better understand the role of spatial divisions in the modern office, this chapter concludes by presenting a categorisation of furniture and space-dividing elements in the modern workplaces. The last chapter will then reconstruct future workspace scenarios based on the observations made during the site observations and interviews. The three main topics used to analyse the relationship between the workspace and the city will be further developed into conceptual interior spaces, providing an explanation of the qualities of future office furnishings.Tämän opinnäytetyön tavoitteena on esittää suunnitteluskenaarioita työpaikan tulevaisuudesta tarkastelemalla sen menneisyyttä, nykyisyyttä ja mahdollisia tulevaisuuden muutoksia, sekä tutkimalla työn ja arkkitehtuurin suhdetta. Lähtökohtana on esittää työn muutos yhteiskunnallisten ilmiöiden, kuten väliaikaisuuden ja virtuaalisen yhteyksien kasvun kautta, sekä kuinka nämä ovat johtaneet ilmiöihin kuten ”digitaalisen nomadismi”, yhteistyön korostaminen työympäristössä, sekä työ- ja perhe-elämän tasapainon löytämisen nousu keskeiseksi teemaksi länsimaisissa työkulttuureissa. Opinnäytetyö alkaa analysoimalla, kuinka lisääntynyt digitaalisten alustojen määrä on vaikuttanut länsimaiseen kulttuuriin. Suurkaupunkien tarve mukauttaa kaupunkitilaa on heijastunut myös ilmiöihin, kuten jaetuiden ”co-working” työtilojen ja tilapäisten asuintilojen kasvuun, heikentäen yksilön vakauden tunnetta samalla kun väliaikainen ja osa-aikatyö kasvavat Euroopassa. Taustalla oleva olennainen muutos on ollut mahdollisuus virtuaaliseen yhteydenpitoon ja pääsy online-tietokantoihin, joka on vaikuttanut käsitykseen työ- ja perhe-elämän tasapainon tarpeesta ja yksilön roolin kasvuun. Tämä on johtanut tarpeeseen määritellä fyysisen työpaikan tarkoitus uudelleen. Ensimmäinen luku tarkastelee, kuinka nykyaikaiset ilmiöt kuten digitaalisten yhteyksien kasvu ja jaetut työtilat vaikuttavat paikallisiin eurooppalaisiin työkulttuureihin. Kuinka Euroopan historialliset kaupungit ja toimistoperinteet mukautuvat näihin uusiin ja nykyaikaisiin vaatimuksiin? Yrityksen pääkonttorin ja kansainvälisten työtilojen tarjoajien analysointi osoittaa murtuman maailmanlaajuisesti leviävien ilmiöiden, työtilojen ja niihin yhdistetyn työkulttuurin yrityksessä sopeutua paikallisiin olosuhteisiin. Toinen luku keskittyy ymmärtämään digitaaliseen yhteisöön kytkeytyneen yksilön nykyaikaista työympäristöä toimistojen lyhyen historiakatsauksen avulla, määrittelemällä nykyaikaisen työn digitaaliset työkalut sekä lisääntyneen autonomisen työskentelyn ja työn joustavuuden vaikutukset. Näiden tutkimisessa on lisäksi käytetty eurooppalaisten työtilojen havainnointia Benjamin Pardon ja Knoll Inc. -yrityksen tuella, joka tarjosi mahdollisuuden tutkia nykyaikaisia työpaikkoja Ranskassa, Italiassa, Saksassa ja Yhdistyneessä kuningaskunnassa. Tämän lisäksi opinnäytetyön havainnoiva osuus kostuu suunnittelun ja arkkitehtuurin alan ammattilaisten haastatteluista, päätyen luvun lopuksi esittelemään huonekalujen ja tilaa jakavien elementtien luokittelun nykyaikaisissa työpaikoissa tämänhetkisten toimiston vaatimusten ymmärtämiseksi. Viimeinen luku kokoaa opinnäytteen tutkivan ja havainnoivan osan yhteen tulevaisuuden työtilan skenaarioilla, jotka jakautuvat kolmeen pääaiheeseen. Näitä aiheita käytetään työtilan ja kaupungin välisen suhteen analysoimiseen, sekä käsitteellisten sisätilojen kehittämiseen päätyen lopulta esittämään tulevien toimistokalusteiden ominaisuuksia

An Activity Based Workspace Project: A study to explore how actual user behaviour reflects original design intention

Today, many organisations are implementing Activity Based Workplaces (ABW), which offer an open and transparent workspace with flexible seating configurations to enhance numerous work activities. Whilst many researchers propose the ABW facilitates interaction, collaboration, concentration, privacy and distractions, existing literature also evidences inconsistencies and contradictions as to the benefits and the potential to enhance specific behaviours. Human behaviour can be unpredictable, it is influenced by a diverse range of factors, i.e. attitude, emotion, culture, values, accordingly, users’ perceptions, use and needs are often not aligned with the presuppositions and expectations of designers and leadership teams. The success of the ABW implementation is commonly assessed through satisfaction and productivity, with negligible focus on how the workspaces are being used in comparison to design intention expectations. This study explores the events, factors and characteristics of an activity based workspace, which users consider facilitate positively or negatively upon their day to day activities. Through its objective to understand how individuals use the workspaces, as against original design intention, this study brings a new focus within workplace research. It explores, through the lens of the individual, how they adapt the workspace to best meet their requirements, compared with the conventional benchmark of how workspace impacts users. The repertory grid technique, an innovative method within workplace research, was used to enable individuals to share their tacit thoughts and meanings explicitly, enhancing the understanding of the congruency between the original design intentions and actual use. Key findings revealed, through the exploration of preferences and needs, that participants frequently used workspaces in ways which were not assigned by the original design intention, appropriating them in accordance with their preferences and needs. Daily work activities were dynamic and predominantly aligned with a more informal way of working. Motivation to collaborate was perceived as a fundamental component of their job role and self determined, and not purely shaped through the provision of collaborative spaces. The findings advocate a need for continued detailed inquiry and a deeper understanding of ABW workplace features and characteristics, which either enable or hinder daily working activities, through contextual user behavioural feedback. A framework is presented which introduces a more user centric approach to the ABW design implementation process, through the exploration and in-depth assessment of user perceptions and meanings of how they use and adapt to the workspace. Design decisions are simply hypotheses of desired performance parameters, therefore fundamental to the design process framework is the commitment to measuring their success. This study also offers two original contributions to knowledge and practice. The first, through the repertory grid technique, which encompasses a robust and structured approach to elicit findings. This method acknowledges the uniqueness of individuals, delivers in-depth understanding which adds value to the design process and enhances the assessment of project success. Secondly, through a different study approach which explores how individuals’ use, adapt and modify the environment to meet their personal needs, preferences and activities. The unique findings, through the understanding of congruency between the original design intention and actual use, challenge and add to existing workplace design knowledge and practice

Intuitive Robot Teleoperation through Multi-Sensor Informed Mixed Reality Visual Aids

© 2021 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Mobile robotic systems have evolved to include sensors capable of truthfully describing robot status and operating environment as accurately and reliably as never before. This possibility is challenged by effective sensor data exploitation, because of the cognitive load an operator is exposed to, due to the large amount of data and time-dependency constraints. This paper addresses this challenge in remote-vehicle teleoperation by proposing an intuitive way to present sensor data to users by means of using mixed reality and visual aids within the user interface. We propose a method for organizing information presentation and a set of visual aids to facilitate visual communication of data in teleoperation control panels. The resulting sensor-information presentation appears coherent and intuitive, making it easier for an operator to catch and comprehend information meaning. This increases situational awareness and speeds up decision-making. Our method is implemented on a real mobile robotic system operating outdoor equipped with on-board internal and external sensors, GPS, and a reconstructed 3D graphical model provided by an assistant drone. Experimentation verified feasibility while intuitive and comprehensive visual communication was confirmed through a qualitative assessment, which encourages further developments.Peer reviewe

Compact and kinetic projected augmented reality interface

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-150).For quite some time, researchers and designers in the field of human computer interaction have strived to better integrate information interfaces into our physical environment. They envisioned a future where computing and interface components would be integrated into the physical environment, creating a seamless experience that uses all our senses. One possible approach to this problem employs projected augmented reality. Such systems project digital information and interfaces onto the physical world and are typically implemented using interactive projector-camera systems. This thesis work is centered on design and implementation of a new form factor for computing, a system we call LuminAR. LuminAR is a compact and kinetic projected augmented reality interface embodied in familiar everyday objects, namely a light bulb and a task light. It allows users to dynamically augment physical surfaces and objects with superimposed digital information using gestural and multi-touch interfaces. This thesis documents LuminAR's design process, hardware and software implementation and interaction techniques. The work is motivated through a set of applications that explore scenarios for interactive and kinetic projected augmented reality interfaces. It also opens the door for further explorations of kinetic interaction and promotes the adoption of projected augmented reality as a commonplace user interface modality. This thesis work was partially supported by a research grant from Intel Corporation.Supported by a research grant from Intel Corporationby Natan Linder.S.M

A continuum robotic platform for endoscopic non-contact laser surgery: design, control, and preclinical evaluation

The application of laser technologies in surgical interventions has been accepted in the clinical domain due to their atraumatic properties. In addition to manual application of fibre-guided lasers with tissue contact, non-contact transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) of laryngeal tumours has been prevailed in ENT surgery. However, TLM requires many years of surgical training for tumour resection in order to preserve the function of adjacent organs and thus preserve the patient’s quality of life. The positioning of the microscopic laser applicator outside the patient can also impede a direct line-of-sight to the target area due to anatomical variability and limit the working space. Further clinical challenges include positioning the laser focus on the tissue surface, imaging, planning and performing laser ablation, and motion of the target area during surgery. This dissertation aims to address the limitations of TLM through robotic approaches and intraoperative assistance. Although a trend towards minimally invasive surgery is apparent, no highly integrated platform for endoscopic delivery of focused laser radiation is available to date. Likewise, there are no known devices that incorporate scene information from endoscopic imaging into ablation planning and execution. For focusing of the laser beam close to the target tissue, this work first presents miniaturised focusing optics that can be integrated into endoscopic systems. Experimental trials characterise the optical properties and the ablation performance. A robotic platform is realised for manipulation of the focusing optics. This is based on a variable-length continuum manipulator. The latter enables movements of the endoscopic end effector in five degrees of freedom with a mechatronic actuation unit. The kinematic modelling and control of the robot are integrated into a modular framework that is evaluated experimentally. The manipulation of focused laser radiation also requires precise adjustment of the focal position on the tissue. For this purpose, visual, haptic and visual-haptic assistance functions are presented. These support the operator during teleoperation to set an optimal working distance. Advantages of visual-haptic assistance are demonstrated in a user study. The system performance and usability of the overall robotic system are assessed in an additional user study. Analogous to a clinical scenario, the subjects follow predefined target patterns with a laser spot. The mean positioning accuracy of the spot is 0.5 mm. Finally, methods of image-guided robot control are introduced to automate laser ablation. Experiments confirm a positive effect of proposed automation concepts on non-contact laser surgery.Die Anwendung von Lasertechnologien in chirurgischen Interventionen hat sich aufgrund der atraumatischen Eigenschaften in der Klinik etabliert. Neben manueller Applikation von fasergeführten Lasern mit Gewebekontakt hat sich die kontaktfreie transorale Lasermikrochirurgie (TLM) von Tumoren des Larynx in der HNO-Chirurgie durchgesetzt. Die TLM erfordert zur Tumorresektion jedoch ein langjähriges chirurgisches Training, um die Funktion der angrenzenden Organe zu sichern und damit die Lebensqualität der Patienten zu erhalten. Die Positionierung des mikroskopis chen Laserapplikators außerhalb des Patienten kann zudem die direkte Sicht auf das Zielgebiet durch anatomische Variabilität erschweren und den Arbeitsraum einschränken. Weitere klinische Herausforderungen betreffen die Positionierung des Laserfokus auf der Gewebeoberfläche, die Bildgebung, die Planung und Ausführung der Laserablation sowie intraoperative Bewegungen des Zielgebietes. Die vorliegende Dissertation zielt darauf ab, die Limitierungen der TLM durch robotische Ansätze und intraoperative Assistenz zu adressieren. Obwohl ein Trend zur minimal invasiven Chirurgie besteht, sind bislang keine hochintegrierten Plattformen für die endoskopische Applikation fokussierter Laserstrahlung verfügbar. Ebenfalls sind keine Systeme bekannt, die Szeneninformationen aus der endoskopischen Bildgebung in die Ablationsplanung und -ausführung einbeziehen. Für eine situsnahe Fokussierung des Laserstrahls wird in dieser Arbeit zunächst eine miniaturisierte Fokussieroptik zur Integration in endoskopische Systeme vorgestellt. Experimentelle Versuche charakterisieren die optischen Eigenschaften und das Ablationsverhalten. Zur Manipulation der Fokussieroptik wird eine robotische Plattform realisiert. Diese basiert auf einem längenveränderlichen Kontinuumsmanipulator. Letzterer ermöglicht in Kombination mit einer mechatronischen Aktuierungseinheit Bewegungen des Endoskopkopfes in fünf Freiheitsgraden. Die kinematische Modellierung und Regelung des Systems werden in ein modulares Framework eingebunden und evaluiert. Die Manipulation fokussierter Laserstrahlung erfordert zudem eine präzise Anpassung der Fokuslage auf das Gewebe. Dafür werden visuelle, haptische und visuell haptische Assistenzfunktionen eingeführt. Diese unterstützen den Anwender bei Teleoperation zur Einstellung eines optimalen Arbeitsabstandes. In einer Anwenderstudie werden Vorteile der visuell-haptischen Assistenz nachgewiesen. Die Systemperformanz und Gebrauchstauglichkeit des robotischen Gesamtsystems werden in einer weiteren Anwenderstudie untersucht. Analog zu einem klinischen Einsatz verfolgen die Probanden mit einem Laserspot vorgegebene Sollpfade. Die mittlere Positioniergenauigkeit des Spots beträgt dabei 0,5 mm. Zur Automatisierung der Ablation werden abschließend Methoden der bildgestützten Regelung vorgestellt. Experimente bestätigen einen positiven Effekt der Automationskonzepte für die kontaktfreie Laserchirurgie

Low-Cost Exoskeletons for Learning Whole-Arm Manipulation in the Wild

While humans can use parts of their arms other than the hands for manipulations like gathering and supporting, whether robots can effectively learn and perform the same type of operations remains relatively unexplored. As these manipulations require joint-level control to regulate the complete poses of the robots, we develop AirExo, a low-cost, adaptable, and portable dual-arm exoskeleton, for teleoperation and demonstration collection. As collecting teleoperated data is expensive and time-consuming, we further leverage AirExo to collect cheap in-the-wild demonstrations at scale. Under our in-the-wild learning framework, we show that with only 3 minutes of the teleoperated demonstrations, augmented by diverse and extensive in-the-wild data collected by AirExo, robots can learn a policy that is comparable to or even better than one learned from teleoperated demonstrations lasting over 20 minutes. Experiments demonstrate that our approach enables the model to learn a more general and robust policy across the various stages of the task, enhancing the success rates in task completion even with the presence of disturbances. Project website: https://airexo.github.io/Comment: Project page: https://airexo.github.io