Vol.3 No.2 2010

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Research paper : Cyber Assist project as service science (H. Nakashima et al.)−112−Synthesiology - English edition Vol.3 No.2 (2010) CoBIT exemplifies location-based communication since it receives information only when it is located in front of the light source. Suica exemplifies another kind of location-based communication by its very-short range communication in the order of 10 cm while CoBIT’s range is in the order of several meters. Suica must be short-ranged because it uses non-directional radio wave. CoBIT is directional, which is one of the advantages of light. Since CoBIT receives information only when it is directed toward the information source, it is possible to selectively receive one channel from multiple information sources even at the same location. As an example, consider a blind person trying to receive information of traffic light. One light is green while another light in 90 degrees difference is red. It is critical to choose information from the right direction to which the person wants to proceed.4.2 Design and development of middlewareTraditional concept of OS that presupposes fixed configuration of devices cannot be used in ubiquitous computing where various devices are connected in an ad-hoc manner. A new layer, called middleware, must be constructed to interconnect the hardware and the software layers. The function of the middleware is to connect various devices and/or to set up a virtual hardware to be used by application programs.The software team proposed and implemented the so called UBKit [13]. It is a set of software/hardware components to be used as modular building blocks for ubiquitous computing. They used it to implement intelligent home appliance systems.At CARC, the device team was also developing its own middleware for CoBIT. We discussed to unify their designs in our meetings several times but did not succeed in merging them. The top priority of the center was to complete their application systems and those two middleware were based on different architecture and technologies to be merged in three years.4.3 Applications of multiagent simulationThe multiagent team worked on various research themes including basic research on traffic simulation[14][15] and application of simulation technology for construction of standard simulators used in RoboCup [16], both in soccer and rescue, which provided the Japan originated international standard. Both soccer and rescue RoboCup’s consist of real robot leagues and simulation leagues, and we participated only in simulation leagues. Our contribution to soccer leagues was initiated before CARC and carried over to CARCNote 8), and contribution to rescue was newly added during CARC’s activity. We also carried out simulation on rescue strategies and on information transfer using ad-hoc wireless connection in disaster scenes. Having a special communication system for disaster cases does not work. It is better to use the same terminal as in daily use. If we can use battery-less systems like a CoBIT, then our research themes complete a loop. Unfortunately though, we could not achieve it.5 Abundant experiments and applicationsAt CARC, we emphasized not only designing a new service but also carrying out actual services and getting feedback from the applications– the practice of service engineering. The followings are typical examples.5.1 After 5 yearsWhen the New Marunouchi building was completed and opened for service, an exhibition named “After 5 Years” was held to present an information environment five years in the future. The original plan was to allow only silent exhibits because many booths were placed next to each other without enough separation to use any sound from speakers. We proposed to use CoBIT so that visitors can listen to the sound only when they stand in front of each exhibit, and it was successfully accepted (Fig. 6). This was our first application of location-based communication.Using CoBIT in several exhibitions including “Doraemon” revealed the problem that LED used for the information Fig. 5 CoBITFig. 6 Usage scenery in “After 5 Years” (The light source is located upper left)

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