Human Media Lab, Chuo University

13/10/2026

We share the UN & UNSG message on the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.
We are approaching this from an academic perspective while also collaborating with local governments, communities, and private industry.

05/10/2026

(Only in Japanese)
　以前に「災害時の意識と行動に関するアンケート」への協力＆声がけのお願いをさせていただきました．（ご回答，ご協力いただいたみなさま，ありがとうございます）
　が，現時点で，30名そこそこの回答で，統計的な分析をするには，弱気になる回答数に留まっています．（論文にまとめても，査読者からのコメントが目に浮かぶ）
　お忙しいところ誠に申し訳ないですが，もう一声，周囲の方（ご家族でもOK，学生でなくてもOK，居住地が都市部でも郊外でもOK，なんだったら，海外でもOK）に，お声がけをお願いできませんでしょうか？
（ここしばらく，日本列島，災害続きで，今まで関心を持たなかたて人にも，関心が高まっているんじゃないかと思っています．）

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf2hnn6myTZ0qBDZtTUfo1qPM4EMCvQff2cfB1UYtTNDVyZ-w/viewform

（感性工学的な観点では，認知バイアス，安全性バイアス，また，文化多様性への配慮意識などの文脈での研究です．）

　よろしくお願い申し上げます．

05/10/2026

On Oct 1, we welcomed visitors from PTIT (Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology), Vietnam;
Prof. Pham Van Cuong, Head of the AI Department, and Assoc. Prof. Mai Thi Nghia, Leader of Robot Division.
Prof. Mai-sensei visited us last year.
Mr. Eiichi Tamura has joined the visit as a coordinator for industry and academics between two countries.
From our side, Prof. Hideki Hashimoto, Prof. Yasuharu Kunii, Prof. Shunji Moromugi, Prof. Kazunori Umeda, Dr. Takuya Igaue, Studens from Moromugi Lab, and Prof. Toshi Kato joined the meeting. Prof. Hiroko Kudo, Law Facutly, also joined the gretings.
The time is restricted but we could show our activities of Kunii Lab (moon robot), Moromugi Lab (medical assistance and keeping fish), Umeda Lab (3D spatial understanding and assistance for human).
Afterwards, they could also visit Prof. Hiroko Shoji, the Dean of Scienceand Engineerng Faculty.
What about Human Media Lab? There were no students on the day... (After the Covid19, my students get used to stay at home and work just online. OMG)

21/08/2026

And the next day, Aug 21, we also held an open lab for Chuo University High School students to give them some experience in Kaneei Engineering.
After the brief lecture on Kansei and Kansei Engineering, each of them chose a topic for an experiment, designed the experiment, and applied it to their colleagues.
(For the first part, a high school teacher also joined and enjoyed some phenomena related to cognitive processes.)

20/08/2026

Today, Aug 20, we welcomed junior high and high school students to the Science Seminar event, which offers lab experience.
Human Media Lab gave a program on Kansei Engineering.
During that time, the visitors completed psychological tests and/or a nudging experiment using eye-tracking.
Each visitor experienced both as an examiner and as an examinee.
They brought back experimental materials and records to their home.

10/08/2026

残暑（＆酷暑）お見舞い申し上げます。
酷な暑さの中ですが、下記のアンケートにご協力いただけるとウレシイです。普段からの「防災・減災に関する意識・具体的な備え・行動」についての調査です。（後から、国際版も作るかもですが、まずは、日本在住のみなさまのご協力をお願いしたいです。）
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf2hnn6myTZ0qBDZtTUfo1qPM4EMCvQff2cfB1UYtTNDVyZ-w/viewform
背景説明：
中央大学では、「個とコミュニティのWell-Beingに資する基盤技術の創出」を目標に、新しく、分野横断（＆大学横断＆産学横断）的な取組を進めるための組織（社会共創機構）＆スキーム（研究イニシアチブ）をスタートさせています。
その最初の取組として、「都市コミュニティレジリエンス研究イニシアティブ」がスタートしています。（特徴：工学的対策のみならず、情報、行動、社会制度など多面的な視点を統合し、都市に暮らす人々の実践的な防災力の向上に資する研究を推進）
https://www.chuo-u.ac.jp/research/introduction/promoting/initiative/
Human Media Labも、感性工学の観点から、都市工学・建築工学・都市計画・データサイエンス・心理学・法学・行政学・行動経済学などとの接点を持ちながら、研究に参加しています。
テーマのうちの一つが、平常時からの「防災・減災に向けた意識の育成」です。
普段からどれくらいの準備をしているか、また、準備していない（準備を進めていない）心理的な理由は何か、適切な啓発の方法は何か等を探るための調査です。
博士課程の学生が担当しております。
ご協力いただけると助かります。ヨロシクお願い申し上げます。
=====
I hope you are managing to stay cool during this lingering (and intense) summer heat.
Despite the grueling heat, I would greatly appreciate your cooperation with the survey below. This study aims to understand your everyday awareness, specific preparations, and actions regarding disaster prevention and mitigation. (While we may create an international version later, we are currently asking for the cooperation of those residing in Japan.)

Background:
Chuo University has launched a new organization (the Organization for Social Co-Creation) and framework (research initiatives) to drive cross-disciplinary, cross-university, and industry-academia collaborative efforts aimed at "creating foundational technologies that contribute to the well-being of individuals and communities."
The "Urban Community Resilience Research Initiative" has been launched as the first of these efforts.

The Human Media Lab is participating in this research from the perspective of Kansei Engineering (affective engineering), collaborating across fields such as urban engineering, architectural engineering, urban planning, data science, psychology, law, public administration, and behavioral economics.
One of the key themes is "fostering awareness for disaster prevention and mitigation" in our daily lives.
This survey seeks to explore the extent of current preparations, the psychological reasons behind a lack of preparation, and effective methods for raising awareness.
The project is being led by a doctoral student.
Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

中央大学の研究をご紹介しています。グローバル戦略の一環として「教育研究の国際化」を目指し、国際研究力の向上や、国内外の大学や研究機関等と連携し、環境問題やエネルギー、防災といった地球規模で生じている課...

02/08/2026

Open campus, 2nd day (Aug 2):
We had imagined that we would have more visitors than the previous day, seeing the people approaching the campus.
But we welcomed only a few, but enthusiastic visitors to our lab.
We could talk with the enthusiastic visitors (i.e., repeaters to our open lab events) for some time.
We also had time with the lab members to discuss our experiment plans this summer. For what? They are, e.g., grit, soft toys, and practical applications.

01/08/2026

Open campus, 1st day (Aug 1):
While waiting for the visitors, three groups shared their research topics. (It was a shame that they did not know much about other groups' or individuals' research topics, even within the same group! Is this often the case for Generation Z?)
For the visitors, the members made better presentations than the previous one. (They have high EQ skills... :-) )
At the end of today's event, we had a Hargendatt's party.

01/08/2026

Today and tomorrow (Aug 1 & 2) are Open Campus Days at the Korakuen campus of 中央大学（Chuo University）.
Our lab, the Human Media Lab, is also joining the events.
This year is the final year of Prof. Toshi Kato's Lab.
We are mainly introducing the undergraduate students' work: the Spark-unit for intrinsic motivation study towards well-being, the Weave-unit for emotion control study in stressful situations and relaxation with aloma, and the Echo-unit for culture-based communication and user experience study.

28/04/2026

On April 19, Prof. Toshi Kato attended the one-day training on English communication at TGG (Tokyo Global Gateway) for the freshmen in our School of Science and Engineering for Social Application.
Until last year, the Data Science Department had this experience program coordinated with TGG. From this year, it has been expanded to the new school (three departments).
We do hope that this experience will encourage our students to pursue their own global research activities.

https://www.chuo-u.ac.jp/academics/faculties/society/departments/civil_env/news/2026/04/85669/