MASASHI KONYO

TOHOKU UNIVERSITY

Graduate School of Information Sciences

Professor

About

Masashi Konyo is a Professor at the Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University, where he leads the Embodied Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory. His research focuses on haptic interfaces, tactile sensing, virtual reality, and disaster response robotics. He received the Young Scientists’ Prize from the Commendation for Science and Technology by MEXT and the Kisoi Motohiro Award, both in 2015 and actively contributes to advancing the field of human-machine interaction. He is a member of the IEEE.

Research Disciplines

Robotics, Haptics

Featured Presentation

See the full schedule here.

Title: Haptic Transmission via High-Frequency Vibrations Propagating Through the Human and Robot Body

Keywords: Haptics, Remote Comunication, Virtual Reality

Abstract: When humans or robots come into contact with their environment, high-frequency vibrations propagate through their bodies, and these vibration waveforms convey physical contact information and reproduce haptic sensations. In this presentation, we propose a novel approach to haptic communication that utilizes such high-frequency vibrations. We have achieved the transmission and reproduction of haptic sensations by converting vibration signals into perceptually equivalent waveforms based on sensory intensity. Application examples include realistic vibration feedback on smartphones, bidirectional haptic communication using wearable bracelets, and stereo haptic representation of spatial vibration sources. Furthermore, this technology is applicable to remote robot operation, enabling intuitive haptic feedback to be transmitted between human operators and robotic systems. These advancements open new possibilities for embodied interaction in both personal and remote human–robot interfaces.