TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Course description and aims

The objective of this course is to understand the application of basic science for strategic mechanical-systems design and optimization of the human user’s experience. Students learn about successful and unsuccessful man-machine interfaces including virtual reality, assistive products, sensory substitution devices, and brain machine interface. Students then learn the basic background of brain science and biological systems to understand the success or failure of these interfaces. The course contains experimental demonstrations to hack one’s own body and sensations to understand the human experience under consideration. Through this course, students will understand the basic cognitive science of the human user’s subjective experience, and have an idea of how to design a mechanical system so that it optimizes the end-user’s sensation, or Kansei. Following is the table of contents
1. Human sensation and perception basic
2. Psychophysics –The correspondence between physics and psychological phenomena
3. The limitations of the human brain to process information (capacity limitation), and attention/inattention. Human information process capacity and attention/inattention
4. Human body control system and internal model, sense of agency
5. To understand action-feedback relationship learning and related topics including brain plasticity, critical period, to optimize the human-machine integrated system usability.
6. Design of illusion-based devices and systems
7. Self and others recognition systems, and the theory of mind

Student learning outcomes

Tabel of the goal of the course is as follows.

1. To understand basic human sensation and perception systems and the varieties of illusions that human information display systems rely on.
2. To understand psychophysics to bridge physics and psychological phenomena and to understand it’s engineering applications.
3. To understand the human brain information process capacity, as well as the visual display system and visual entertainment that relies on human attention and inattention.
4. To understand action-feedback relationship learning and related topics including brain plasticity, critical period, to optimize the human-machine integrated system usability.
5. To understand the brain and body mechanisms to control human body movement. In addition, to understand mechanical system designs to cooperate with human body organs so that they are psychologically merged into one for the human user to achieve self-body like usability and sensations.
6. To understand the different varieties of display and virtual-reality system designs which are controlled with the user’s active body movement, and their past, current, and future directions.
7. To understand the basic application of the human self- and other- recognition process through multimodal sensory systems which include vision, haptic, and proprioception. To understand social problems and current debate on the autonomy and self-sensation of artificial systems including AI and robots.


The scope is to apply basic human sensation and perception knowledge for mechanical systems design.

Keywords

Biological system, human body movement, perception, cognition, brain, man-machine interface

Competencies that will be developed

Class flow

The course contains lectures and discussions. Sometimes students will also have assignments.

Course schedule/Required learning

Out-of-Class Study Time (Preparation and Review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

N/A

Reference books, course materials, etc.

Handouts.

Assessment criteria and methods

Discussion(30%), assignment(30%), and final assignment(40%).

Related courses

• MEC.L331 ： Basic Bioengineering
• MEC.I312 ： Modeling and Control Theory
• LAH.S105 ： Psychology A
• LAH.S205 ： Psychology B
• LAS.B102 ： Fundamental Life Science 1-2
• LAH.H302 ： Arts C, Esthetics C

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

Basic knowledge and interest in psychology, cognitive science, media art, philosophy, and control theory is preferable.