Patents by Inventor Noboru Sonehara

Noboru Sonehara has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6704907
    Abstract: A digital contents editing method performs an editing operation of digital contents with a plurality of computers connected via a network. A digital contents editing apparatus or server accumulates the initial data of the digital contents and the editing operation information which is digitized, and transfers the editing operation information to clients which are involved in the editing operation. Each client then performs an editing operation of the digital contents by creating the editing operation information, in which the editing operation of the digital contents is digitized, and communicates only the editing operation information to other clients via the server and the network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2004
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Masakatsu Aoki, Ken Tsutsuguchi, Yasuhiko Watanabe, Noboru Sonehara
  • Patent number: 6380923
    Abstract: A full-time wearable input device, method for the same is provided, wherein the immediate accessibility is improved without sacrificing the operational integrity, and information can be inputted anytime, anywhere, and immediately. The full-time wearable input device comprises a detector for detecting the shock generated at the time of striking the fingertips against a physical surface, and an analyzer for analyzing the timing at which the fingertips strike the aforementioned physical surface and determining the input information based on the detection signal detected by the aforementioned detector. As the above-mentioned detector, a shock sensor, acceleration sensor, sound sensor and myoelectric sensor can be used. The input information is then determined based on the change in the shock, acceleration, sound and/or myoelectric potential as detected by the sensors which are worn on each finger, wrist, or arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2002
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Masaaki Fukumoto, Akira Hiraiwa, Tadasu Uchiyama, Noboru Sonehara
  • Patent number: 6307641
    Abstract: An image information retrieving device comprises: a primary service control information storing section in which primary service control information is stored in advance; a response section which performs between a facsimile terminal which is connected to a line, output of guidance information in accordance with a service control procedure indicated by primary service control information stored in the primary service control information storing section, input of an assignment signal from a user based on the guidance information, and output of image information as a retrieval result based on the assignment signal; a retrieval processing section which retrieves image information from an image information storing device in response to the operation of the response section, reads the image information as the retrieval result, and outputs the image information to the response section; a secondary service control information storing section for storing temporarily secondary service control information showing a ser
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2001
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Teruo Hamano, Ken Kajii, Tsutomu Sasaki, Noboru Sonehara
  • Patent number: 6281994
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for three-dimensional holographic display suitable for moving object display are disclosed. At least one hologram of a display target object is displayed on a display device, and a non-scattered light is irradiated onto the display device to produce a scattered light. Then the scattered light from the display device as an object light of the display target object and the non-scattered light as a reference light are irradiated simultaneously at different incident angles onto a photorefractive medium having a photorefractive effect, and interference fringes generated by the object light and the reference light are recorded in the photorefractive medium. Then, the three-dimensional image is displayed by irradiating only the non-scattered light onto the photorefractive medium so as to reproduce a holographic image corresponding to the interference fringes recorded in the photorefractive medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2001
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Tsutomu Horikoshi, Haruhiko Kojima, Noboru Sonehara, Masahiro Sasaura, Tadayuki Imai, Shogo Yagi, Akiyuki Tate, Kazuhito Higuchi, Takaaki Akimoto
  • Patent number: 6104412
    Abstract: The present invention offers a method for generating animations of a multi-articulated structure, a recording medium with the method recorded therein and an animation generating apparatus using the method. Motions of rigid sticks which approximate the upper arm connected to the shoulder joint and the lower arm connected by the elbow joint to the upper arm are modeled, by an interpolation scheme and/or equations of motion based on laws of physics, as temporal changes in angular positions in their respective constraint planes and the generated results are combined and output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2000
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Ken Tsutsuguchi, Yasuhito Suenaga, Yasuhiko Watanabe, Noboru Sonehara
  • Patent number: 5796611
    Abstract: The present invention provides a weather forecast apparatus and a method for the same, to systematically classify a measured radar image based on results of pattern classification of past radar images so as to use the classified radar image. In the present invention, rapid forecasting is possible by making the FNN model previously learn based on data of each class (and indexes for forecast times) obtained by classification of past weather data for every resembling pattern. In addition, a calculation procedure for improving the classifying ability of patterns can be established by varying the procedure for calculating feature quantities with regard to the radar image by using the learning of the TNN model. Furthermore, systematic classification of a pre-learned image can be realized by performing self organization with regard to compound feature quantities extracted from a radar image in the PNN model, a typical example of which is a competitive learning model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 18, 1998
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Keihiro Ochiai, Hideto Suzuki, Noboru Sonehara
  • Patent number: 5781661
    Abstract: The purpose of the present invention is to provide a handwriting information detecting method and apparatus for the same, in which a user can choose any handwriting tool such as a pen or a pencil, and when the user writes with the tool, the handwriting information can be detected. The handwriting information detecting method of the present invention comprises steps of detecting a motion of a writing tool, held by a writing tool holder comprising at least one acceleration sensor, based on at least one acceleration signal output from the at least one acceleration sensor when the writing tool is grasped by fingers; and recognizing handwriting information of a character or a figure written by the writing tool according to the detected motion thereof, and outputting the information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 14, 1998
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Hiraiwa, Masaaki Fukumoto, Tadasu Uchiyama, Noboru Sonehara, Shigeru Oikawa
  • Patent number: 5745599
    Abstract: The present invention provides a handwritten character recognition method in which neighboring points are connected by straight lines and the segments in-between points are then interpolated using broken lines. Each broken line is equally divided into k segments, and a number is assigned to each division point therein according to the time sequence of the respective point. A (k+1)N.times.N (N is the number of strokes) matrix P consisting of the elements of row (k+1)(n-1)+1 and column k(m-1)+j comprising angle .OMEGA. formed by the straight line connecting division point i of stroke n and division point j of stroke m and the straight line connecting division point i of stroke n and division point j+1 of stroke m, is then calculated. The distance di between handwritten character Cx and matrix Qi (i=1-M) formed in the same manner from M templates corresponding to characters possessing the same number of strokes as character Cx, is calculated as the sum of the squares of each element of matrix P-Qi.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 28, 1998
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Tadasu Uchiyama, Noboru Sonehara, Akira Hiraiwa
  • Patent number: 5406481
    Abstract: An apparatus is presented for providing a short time range forecast with relative high accuracy from weather radar images of cloud reflection data by incorporating physical properties of cloud in the forecasting method. The method consists of defining a plurality of lattice points on a radar image, and multiplying the reflection data from a group of neighboring lattice points obtained at a specific past point in time with selected coefficients. The products of multiplication are summed, and transformed into image data by specific function based on the properties relating to cloud. Squared errors of the difference between the computational reflection data and the observed reflection data are iterated to a value below a predetermined threshold value to select the coefficients, and these coefficients are used to provide forecasting of reflection data at a specific future point in time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 11, 1995
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Shinozawa, Noboru Sonehara, Tadasu Uchiyama
  • Patent number: 5404423
    Abstract: A neural network system for identifying forecasting, and controlling a non-linear flow on a physical system network, in which each branch between nodes in the physical system network is divided by a plurality of division points; a flow at each of the division points and a terminal point of each branch is calculated according to neural network model parameters specifying connections among the division points and the terminal point in a neural network model; an actual flow is measured at the terminal point of said each branch; an error of the calculated flow at the terminal point with respect to the measured actual flow at the terminal point is calculated; the neural network model parameters are adjusted to minimize the calculated error; and system dynamics parameters specifying dynamics of the physical system are determined according to the adjusted neural network model parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 4, 1995
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Tadasu Uchiyama, Noboru Sonehara, Yukio Tokunaga
  • Patent number: 4677257
    Abstract: In a telematic system, a plurality of response timings for a page boundary command, a page end command and the like from a sending system are prepared. A proper timing is selected in accordance with the type of sending system or an instruction from the sending system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1985
    Date of Patent: June 30, 1987
    Assignees: Ricoh Co., Ltd., Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Fumihiro Ogasawara, Noboru Sonehara