Patents by Inventor Sunao Iwaki

Sunao Iwaki 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: 9125609
    Abstract: A portable terminal device capable of measuring and evaluating mental fatigue, its measuring method, and a server computer is provided. The portable terminal device includes an operation unit; an imaging unit; a display screen or light emitting element; and a recording unit. Environmental data, which represents ambient environmental light, is calculated by capturing at least a reference image, first frequency data measured when the user is healthy is associated with first environmental data at the time of the measurement, and the associated data is stored in the recording unit; and a proportion of decrease of second frequency data measured when the user is not healthy from the first frequency data associated with the first environmental data having the same order of magnitude as that of second environmental data at the time of the measurement is calculated to evaluate the degree of fatigue of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Harada, Sunao Iwaki
  • Patent number: 8808196
    Abstract: This invention relates to a flicker threshold measurement device including: an arithmetic processing unit 1; a display unit 8 with a fixed refresh rate; and an operation unit 9, wherein: the arithmetic processing unit 1 displays an image on the display unit 8 in an ON/OFF manner; the arithmetic processing unit 1 changes the display timing by monotonously increasing or decreasing the number of OFF periods per second; the arithmetic processing unit 1 monotonously increases or decreases at least one of: the number of OFF pixels in the image, the size of the image, and the contrast of the OFF pixels, during a period in which the display timing is not changed; each of the OFF periods is a reciprocal of the refresh rate; and the arithmetic processing unit 1 determines the number of OFF periods when a test subject 10 operates the operation unit 9 as he/she starts or stops perceiving flicker, as information corresponding to a flicker threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Harada, Sunao Iwaki
  • Patent number: 8579441
    Abstract: The measurement method involves a step for displaying on a display screen an image in which one corresponding region exclusively that has been selected from regions provided has a contrast difference when on and when off; a step for enlarging the contrast difference in the image display in cases which an operation for an operation unit accompanying the flickering perception of a subject is assessed to not be correctly specifying the one aforementioned selected region, and, in cases which a correct specification has been assessed, recording the contrast difference at that point in a recording unit as the measurement contrast difference; and a step for assessing whether the aforementioned recorded measurement contrast difference has converged, reducing the contrast difference when convergence has not been assessed, and determining the convergence value of the aforementioned measurement contrast difference as information corresponding to the flickering perception threshold when convergence has been assessed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Sunao Iwaki, Nobuyoshi Harada, Kouichi Sutani
  • Patent number: 8485826
    Abstract: A portable terminal device (1) capable of easily evaluating mental fatigue comprises: an operation unit (4); an imaging unit for measuring ambient light (5); a display screen (2) or a light-emitting element (3) for presenting a flashing image or light while a flicker frequency of the flashing source is being monotonically changed from a start frequency to an ending frequency; and a recording unit for, when a user operates the operation unit (4) as the user perceives a flicker, recording the flicker frequency at the time point as a measured frequency, wherein: a first frequency datum, which is the measured frequency measured when the user is in a healthy condition, is associated with a first luminance datum, which is a measured ambient luminance, and the associated datum is stored in the recording unit, a proportion of decrease of a second frequency datum, which is the measured frequency measured when the user is not in a healthy condition, from the first frequency datum recorded in the recording unit and asso
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2013
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Harada, Sunao Iwaki
  • Publication number: 20120169997
    Abstract: The measurement method involves a step for displaying on a display screen an image in which one corresponding region exclusively that has been selected from regions provided has a contrast difference when on and when off; a step for enlarging the contrast difference in the image display in cases which an operation for an operation unit accompanying the flickering perception of a subject is assessed to not be correctly specifying the one aforementioned selected region, and, in cases which a correct specification has been assessed, recording the contrast difference at that point in a recording unit as the measurement contrast difference; and a step for assessing whether the aforementioned recorded measurement contrast difference has converged, reducing the contrast difference when convergence has not been assessed, and determining the convergence value of the aforementioned measurement contrast difference as information corresponding to the flickering perception threshold when convergence has been assessed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2010
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Sunao Iwaki, Nobuyoshi Harada, Kouichi Sutani
  • Publication number: 20110213269
    Abstract: This invention aims to provide a portable terminal device capable of easily and accurately measuring and evaluating mental fatigue, its measuring method, and a server computer. The portable terminal device includes an operation unit 20; an imaging unit 18 for measuring ambient light; a display screen 16 or light emitting element 17 for displaying a blinking image while a frequency of the blinking image is being changed; and a recording unit 14 for recording a flicker frequency, as a measurement frequency, at the time when a user operates the operation unit 20 to indicate that the user perceives flicker during the display of the blinking image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2009
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Applicant: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Harada, Sunao Iwaki
  • Publication number: 20110157261
    Abstract: This invention relates to a flicker threshold measurement device including: an arithmetic processing unit 1; a display unit 8 with a fixed refresh rate; and an operation unit 9, wherein: the arithmetic processing unit 1 displays an image on the display unit 8 in an ON/OFF manner; the arithmetic processing unit 1 changes the display timing by monotonously increasing or decreasing the number of OFF periods per second; the arithmetic processing unit 1 monotonously increases or decreases at least one of: the number of OFF pixels in the image, the size of the image, and the contrast of the OFF pixels, during a period in which the display timing is not changed; each of the OFF periods is a reciprocal of the refresh rate; and the arithmetic processing unit 1 determines the number of OFF periods when a test subject 10 operates the operation unit 9 as he/she starts or stops perceiving flicker, as information corresponding to a flicker threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2009
    Publication date: June 30, 2011
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Harada, Sunao Iwaki
  • Patent number: 7891814
    Abstract: A mental fatigue detection device for detecting mental fatigue without arbitrariness using a flickering light includes: a light-emitting unit (1) for emitting a flickering visible light; a lighting unit (2) for emitting an infrared ray; an imaging unit (3) for taking an infrared image; and a control unit (4); wherein: the light-emitting unit (3) presents a test subject a flickering visible light with its frequency changing monotonically and stepwise; the imaging unit (3) captures an image of a region containing an eye of the test subject; the control unit (4) finds a pupil diameter of an image of the eye contained in each frame image of the captured image as time-series data, finds a threshold frequency of the test subject at the time of the measurement based on the variation in the pupil diameter and compares the threshold frequency with a threshold frequency when the test subject has no mental fatigue, thereby determining that whether the test subject has mental fatigue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Harada, Sunao Iwaki
  • Publication number: 20100085539
    Abstract: A mental fatigue detection device for detecting mental fatigue without arbitrariness using a flickering light includes: a light-emitting unit (1) for emitting a flickering visible light; a lighting unit (2) for emitting an infrared ray; an imaging unit (3) for taking an infrared image; and a control unit (4); wherein: the light-emitting unit (3) presents a test subject a flickering visible light with its frequency changing monotonically and stepwise; the imaging unit (3) captures an image of a region containing an eye of the test subject; the control unit (4) finds a pupil diameter of an image of the eye contained in each frame image of the captured image as time-series data, finds a threshold frequency of the test subject at the time of the measurement based on the variation in the pupil diameter and compares the threshold frequency with a threshold frequency when the test subject has no mental fatigue, thereby determining that whether the test subject has mental fatigue.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 23, 2009
    Publication date: April 8, 2010
    Applicant: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Harada, Sunao Iwaki
  • Publication number: 20100041002
    Abstract: A portable terminal device (1) capable of easily evaluating mental fatigue comprises: an operation unit (4); an imaging unit for measuring ambient light (5); a display screen (2) or a light-emitting element (3) for presenting a flashing image or light while a flicker frequency of the flashing source is being monotonically changed from a start frequency to an ending frequency; and a recording unit for, when a user operates the operation unit (4) as the user perceives a flicker, recording the flicker frequency at the time point as a measured frequency, wherein: a first frequency datum, which is the measured frequency measured when the user is in a healthy condition, is associated with a first luminance datum, which is a measured ambient luminance, and the associated datum is stored in the recording unit, a proportion of decrease of a second frequency datum, which is the measured frequency measured when the user is not in a healthy condition, from the first frequency datum recorded in the recording unit and asso
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2009
    Publication date: February 18, 2010
    Applicant: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Harada, Sunao Iwaki
  • Patent number: 5522041
    Abstract: A data processor and a data transfer method for efficiently transferring data between a plurality of information processing devices as in a client server system. In case non-coded data such as image data are transmitted, it is necessary to make the transmission management requirements such as protocol, data structure, coding scheme, and coding default condition coincide between the transmitting side and the receiving side. In order to satisfy this requirement, a data processor lying between a plurality of information processing devices and having a data transfer intermediary function records beforehand transmission management information including identification information concerning a plurality of clients, discriminates a client by using the identification information, and recognizes transmission management information concerning the discriminated client.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 28, 1996
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuya Murakami, Eiichi Hadano, Kazuyuki Kodama, Masaaki Fujinawa, Sunao Iwaki