Abstract: A video content creating apparatus includes a computer. The computer registers photographic image data input from a photographic input device and meta-information set in relation to the data in a database. After retrieving photographs based on the meta-information, the apparatus selects the photographs to be used for a reminiscence video and decides the reproduction order of the photographs. After registering a BGM playlist, the apparatus reproduces the photographs and BGM for creating the reminiscence video. If there are any regions, the apparatus displays the regions on a monitor while aligning them in sequence according to the meta-information on them. Upon completion of generation (rendering) of a series of reminiscence video contents, the apparatus creates the reminiscence video by saving the rendering results in Flash movie format, for example.

Abstract: A communication robot control system displays a selection input screen for supporting input of actions of a communication robot. The selection input screen displays in a user-selectable manner a list of a plurality of behaviors including not only spontaneous actions but also reactive motions (reflex behaviors) in response to behavior of a person as a communication partner, and a list of emotional expressions to be added to the behaviors. According to a user's operation, the behavior and the emotional expression to be performed by the communication robot are selected and decided. Then, reproductive motion information for interactive actions including reactive motions and emotional interactive actions, is generated based on input history of the behavior and the emotional expression.

Abstract: The motion of the movable sections of the robot is taken for a periodic motion so that the attitude of the robot can be stably controlled in a broad sense of the word by regulating the transfer of the movable sections. More specifically, one or more than one phase generators are used for the robot system and one of the plurality of controllers is selected depending on the generated phase. Then, the controller controls the drive of the movable sections according to continuous phase information. Additionally, the actual phase is estimated from the physical system and the frequency and the phase of the phase generator are regulated by using the estimated value, while the physical phase and the phase generator of the robot system are subjected to mutual entrainment so that consequently, it is possible to control the motion of the robot by effectively using the dynamics of the robot.

Abstract: A chemical genetic programming apparatus is provided, which enables programming by the application of a chemical genetic algorithm. A CPU 120 includes a tRNA transcripting unit 1201 performing transcription of tRNA from a second portion of DNA, an amino acid translating unit 1202 translating amino acids based on a third portion of DNA and an aminoacyl-tRNA table, an aminoacyl-tRNA updating unit 1203 updating the aminoacyl-tRNA table by a reaction of amino acids and tRNAs, and a phenotype tree generating unit 1205 for generating a phenotype tree by translation based on the aminoacyl-tRNA table and the first portion of DNA, and performs genetic operations on the DNA.

Abstract: A radio communications system includes radio devices, and antenna and an array antenna. The radio devices communicate a prescribed signal via the antenna and the array antenna in a system of transmission and reception at a single frequency, such as time division duplex, as the array antenna changes the in directivity to form a plurality of directivities. The radio devices detect a plurality of received radio waves' strength to produce receive signal profiles, respectively, indicating a plurality of strength profiles. The radio devices multivalue strength of the receive signal profiles, respectively, and generate private keys having the multivalued plurality of values serving as a bit pattern.

Abstract: An apparatus enabling automatic determination of a portion that reliably represents a feature of a speech waveform includes: an acoustic/prosodic analysis unit calculating, from data, distribution of an energy of a prescribed frequency range of the speech waveform on a time axis, and for extracting, among various syllables of the speech waveform, a range that is generated stably, based on the distribution and the pitch of the speech waveform; cepstral analysis unit estimating, based on the spectral distribution of the speech waveform on the time axis, a range of the speech waveform of which change is well controlled by a speaker; and a pseudo-syllabic center extracting unit extracting, as a portion of high reliability of the speech waveform, that range which has been estimated to be the stably generated range and of which change is estimated to be well controlled by the speaker.

Abstract: A speaker identifying apparatus includes: a module for performing a principal component analysis on predetermined vocal tract geometrical parameters of a plurality of speakers and calculating an average and principal component vectors representing speaker-dependent variation; a module for performing acoustic analysis on the speech data being uttered for each of the speakers to calculate cepstrum coefficients; a module for calculating principal component coefficients for approximating the vocal tract geometrical parameter of each of the plurality of speakers by a linear sum of principal component coefficients; a module for determining, by multiple regression analysis, a coefficient sequence for estimating principal component coefficients by a linear sum of the plurality of prescribed features, for each of the plurality of speakers; a module for calculating a plurality of features from speech data of the speaker to be identified, and estimating principal component coefficients for calculating the vocal tract ge

Abstract: A chemical genetic programming apparatus is provided, which enables programming by the application of a chemical genetic algorithm. A CPU 120 includes a tRNA transcripting unit 1201 performing transcription of tRNA from a second portion of DNA, an amino acid translating unit 1202 translating amino acids based on a third portion of DNA and an aminoacyl-tRNA table, an aminoacyl-tRNA updating unit 1203 updating the aminoacyl-tRNA table by a reaction of amino acids and tRNAs, and a phenotype tree generating unit 1205 for generating a phenotype tree by translation based on the aminoacyl-tRNA table and the first portion of DNA, and performs genetic operations on the DNA.

Abstract: A laser gyro of the present invention includes laser light excitation means (a semiconductor laser device 100) that excites first and second laser lights propagating in the opposite directions to each other in a circular ring-shaped path (an optical path 40), coupling means (optical waveguides 41 and 42) for superimposing the first and the second laser lights, and a photodetector for observing an interference signal generated by the superimposed first and second laser lights.

Abstract: In wireless communication using links with neighbor wireless devices, a wireless device calculates ratios of throughput to maximum throughput for the links and calculates the costs of the links using the calculated ratios. Then the wireless device finds, for each destination, a route in which the sum of such calculated link costs is the minimum, and sends a packet to the destination using the route. As a consequence, routing can be done according to an isotonic, easy-to-implement routing protocol.

Abstract: A source terminal measures characteristics of the path at the source terminal itself, produces a characteristics-measurement packet, and transmits the produced characteristics-measurement packet to a relay terminal. Upon receiving the characteristics-measurement packet, the relay terminal measures characteristics of the path at the relay terminal itself, renews the characteristics of the path included in the characteristics-measurement packet using the measured characteristics of the path, and transmits the characteristics of the wireless communication path to the destination terminal. The source terminal produces an admission-request packet and transmits the packet to the destination terminal. Upon receiving the admission-request packet, the destination terminal allows or rejects the traffic quality maintenance request according to the characteristics of the wireless communication path.

Abstract: A receiver includes an array antenna, terminals, switches, a receiving circuit, a switch control unit and a reactance setting unit. Receiving circuit determines a received frequency and a received signal quality of a received signal by demodulating the received signal provided from the array antenna. The receiving circuit provides the received frequency to the reactance setting unit as a frequency setting signal, and provide the received signal quality to the switch control unit and the reactance setting unit. The reactance setting unit sets a set of the reactances corresponding to the received frequency in the terminals for each frequency, and the switch control unit switches connections in the switches to provide the received signal quality equal to or greater than the threshold.

Abstract: The present invention provides a motion control system control a motion of a second motion body by considering an environment which a human contacts and a motion mode appropriate to the environment, and an environment which a robot actually contacts. The motion mode is learned based on an idea that it is sufficient to learn only a feature part of the motion mode of the human without a necessity to learn the others. Moreover, based on an idea that it is sufficient to reproduce only the feature part of the motion mode of the human without a necessity to reproduce the others, the motion mode of the robot is controlled by using the model obtained from the learning result. Thereby, the motion mode of the robot is controlled by using the motion mode of the human as a prototype without restricting the motion mode thereof more than necessary.

Abstract: When wireless communications are made between a first wireless device and a second wireless device along a route, two wireless devices which exist between the first and second wireless devices each determine the lowest maximum transmission rate (11 Mbps) in the wireless intervals on the route from themselves to the second wireless device to be their own transmission rate txRate (11 Mbps) and two other wireless devices which exist between the first and second wireless devices each determine the lowest maximum transmission rate (54 Mbps) in the wireless intervals on the route from themselves to the second wireless device to be their own transmission rate txRate (54 Mbps).

Abstract: A speech recognition unit (114) and a processor unit (116) of a foreign language learning device (100) receive sentence speech information corresponding to a sentence pronounced by a learner (2) to separate the information into word speech information on the basis of words included in the sentence. The processor unit (116) evaluates the degree of matching (likelihood) of each word speech information with a model speech, and a resultant evaluation is indicated on a display unit (120) on the basis of each word.

Abstract: An array antenna apparatus (100) includes a radiating element (A0) for receiving a transmitted radio signal, two parasitic elements (A1, A2), and two variable reactance elements (12-1, 12-2) connected to the respective parasitic elements (A1, A2), and a directivity characteristic of the array antenna apparatus is changed by changing reactances set to the variable reactance elements. An antenna controller (10) selects and sets one reactance to be set from those in a first case in which a first reactance set is set to the two variable reactance elements (12-1, 12-2) and a second case in which a second reactance set is set to the two variable reactance elements (12-1, 12-2) to be able to obtain a diversity gain equal to or larger than a predetermined value, based on a received radio signal, based on signal quality of the radio signal.

Abstract: In a radio communication system, a relay route is established with a plurality of wireless devices constructing an MPR set for a wireless device as a root node by transmission and reception of a Hello packet. A wireless device other than that constructing the MPR set transmits neighboring wireless device information, information of a neighboring wireless device thereof, to the wireless device as the root node via the relay route. Based on the neighboring wireless device information received via the relay route, the wireless device as the root node generates and stores topology information indicating a topology of a plurality of wireless devices constructing the radio communication system. The wireless device as the root node transmits the topology information to a plurality of wireless devices on a regular basis, or transmits to a wireless device requiring the topology information. As a result, radio communication can be performed with reduced overhead.

Abstract: Prepare digital data of a value of each pixel within an object image region including a region of a human face. Then, successively, in the object image region, extract position of a Between-the-Eyes candidate point through a filtering process with a Between-the-Eyes detecting filter in which six rectangles Si (1?i?6) are connected. Further, extracting a portion of the object image in a prescribed size which has the extracted position of the Between-the-Eyes candidate point at a center, and select a true candidate point from said Between-the-Eyes candidate points in accordance with a pattern discriminating process.

Abstract: In an automatic camera calibration method in a system comprising a plurality of cameras, the automatic camera calibration method is characterized in that for each of the cameras, the estimated values of the position and posture of the camera are updated on the basis of observation information shared with the surrounding cameras and the estimated values of the respective current positions and postures of the surrounding cameras. An example of the observation information is the two-dimensional coordinate value of an image to be observed on an image plane of the camera and the size of the image to be observed.

Abstract: A key inputting device includes a vowel switch for inputting vowels, and consonant switches for inputting consonants. The vowel switch is displacable in five directions, each consonant switch is displacable in three directions, and displacement directions of each switch are allotted to each letter of alphabet corresponding to at least a movement of articulatory organs when pronouncing each letter, that is, a movement or a location of a jaw, a throat, a tongue, lips. The vowel switch is operationable by a thumb, and the consonant switches are operationable by an index finger, a middle finger, a ring finger, and a little finger, respectively.