Eye tracking is a technology that has quickly become a commonplace tool for evaluating package and webpage design. In such design processes, static two-dimensional images are shown on a computer screen while a subject's gaze where he or she looks is measured via an eye tracking device. The collected gaze fixation data are then visualized and analyzed via gaze plots and heat maps. Such evaluations using two-dimensional images are often too limited to analyze gaze on three-dimensional physical objects such as products because users look at them not from a single point of view but rather from various angles. Therefore in this study we propose methods for collecting gaze fixation data for a three-dimensional model of a given product and visualizing corresponding gaze plots and heat maps also in three dimensions. To achieve our goals, we used a wearable eye-tracking device, i.e., eye-tracking glasses. Further, we implemented a prototype system to demonstrate its advantages in comparison with two-dimensional gaze fixation methods. Highlights Proposing a method for collecting gaze fixation data for a three-dimensional model of a given product. Proposing two visualization methods for three dimensional gaze data; gaze plots and heat maps. Proposed system was applied to two practical examples of hair dryer and car interior.

Much attention has been paid internationally to the adoption of sustainable development goals to achieve sustainable outcomes. Although roadmapping is widely used by companies and other organizations to plan long-term strategies, relatively few studies have examined the development of roadmapping methods aiming at sustainability. To address this challenge, in this article, a backcasting-based method to design roadmaps that could be used to facilitate decision making and plan sustainable futures is proposed. By drawing on the concept of backcasting, the proposed roadmap design method consists of two phases: defining a sustainable vision, and describing the pathways that are required to realize that vision. In order to develop pathways that bridge the gap between the present and the vision, we develop a roadmap template called a "four-arrow model." To demonstrate the proposed method, roadmaps are developed for Japanese manufacturing from the present to 2050 by organizing an expert workshop. As a result, two different roadmaps that connected sustainable visions and associated pathways are successfully developed. The number of ideas generated through the workshop indicates that the proposed method encouraged brainstorming and concept development. Future research will focus on making the roadmap design process more comprehensive by conducting industrial case studies.

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In the present paper, a vibration isolation control problem is considered for the case in which forced vibration disturbances that have a narrow-band frequency component are applied to a system. Such a control problem appears in the vibration isolation control of a rotating machine. Velocity feedback control including notch-filters attenuates the effects of such narrow-band frequency disturbances, but parameter tuning of a controller is difficult because the vibration isolation performance changes dramatically according to slight discrepancies in the controller parameters. In such cases, a direct frequency shaping method such as the H ∞ control is suitable for the controller design. In the present paper, a vibration isolation control problem for a mechanical experimental system, which simulates the characteristics of a rotating machine in space, is considered. A system model was created by performing system identification experiments, and a controller was designed by a frequency shaping method based on the H ∞ control. Control experiments were carried out successfully, and the controller was verified to provide the expected performance.

This paper describes a newly developed 3-D shape modeling system, in which a user can design a free-form surface as if he or she actually manipulates a flexible object made from rubber or clay. Such reality can be realized in the system without any encumbering devices like goggles, glasses, or gloves, which is impossible in conventional virtual reality systems. The system is composed of a volume scanning display for presenting a surface image in a real 3-D space, a multisensory input device for detecting the force for deformation, and a half-silvered mirror for spatial superposition of the image onto the input device. A user can directly manipulate a free-form surface by virtually pushing the image, actually pushing the input device, and at the same time, he or she can feel the input device resist its actual deformation as the resisting force of the virtual surface. The system has several types of deforming models, and two types of free-form surfaces that have different curvatures have been experimentally created.