NEC, NEC Design & SGI Collaboratively Develop “KOTOHANA”

TOKYO, March 3, 2006 - NEC Corporation (“NEC,” President Akinobu Kanasugi, HQ: Tokyo), NEC Design Ltd. （”NEC Design,” President: Toshio Oya, HQ: Tokyo） and SGI Japan, Ltd.（”SGI Japan,” President: Norio Izumi, HQ:Tokyo） today announced the joint development of a new communication terminal called “KOTOHANA.” This new communication terminal is capable of conveying human feelings through　the illumination of a variety of bright colors. NEC demonstrats the capabilities of the new terminal at CeBIT (Center for Office and Information Technology in English), the world’s largest IT exhibition, which will be held from March 9 to 15 in Hanover, Germany. 　KOTOHANA can portray a speaker’s emotion by the illumination of several colors emitted from its flower-shaped terminals, which boast built-in light-emitting diode (LED). The new terminal responds to a different feeling by the illumination of a different color, for example yellow for Joy or red for Excitement, creating a novel aspect to human communication. Terminals are linked via wireless LAN so that each participant can remotely perceive the other’s feelings. 　KOTOHANA can be used as an ornament or interior accessory to produce a living space equipped with a unique tool that enables the sharing of feelings. When incorporated into devices such as mobile terminals, this technology may realize a new method of communication by which users can perceive each other’s emotions and feelings without verbal communication. 　KOTOHANA is based on Sensibility Technology (ST*), an emotion recognition engine that SGI Japan and their partner A.G.I. Inc. (“AGI,” President: Shunji Mitsuyoshi, HQ:Tokyo) jointly developed. This system consists of a pair of flower-shaped terminals with a built-in microphone. The ST engine analyzes voice data input through the microphones. Following this, the ST identifies the speaker’s emotion as Joy, Sorrow, Calmness or Excitement based on the intonation or accent of the voice. After the results are sent back to the LED that is built into the corolla-shaped part of the device, gentle colors are illuminated and emitted. Yellow represents Joy, blue Sorrow, green Calmness and red Excitement. The illuminated color changes gradually according to the transition of the speaker’s emotion. For example, a change in the speaker’s emotion from a state of Calmness to Excitement is represented by a gradual change in the illuminated color from green to red, and a change in the emotion level of Excitement is represented by darker and lighter shading of red illumination. ＜close up＞ ＜close up＞ 　This jointly developed system is a concept model that demonstrates emotion recognition capability. The ST engine that operates on a personal computer that is connected to the KOTOHANA terminals analyzes voice data, which is received through microphones. 　Designers at NEC have developed future design concepts termed as “Resonantware” (resonant systems), which can be used in a world where people and technology resonate with each other. Various prototype models of Resonantware have been exhibited each year at CeBIT. KOTOHANA was designed by NEC Design as an interface that visualizes one’s emotions, in a way that conventional technologies cannot. For more information about advance design at NEC please access:http://www.nec.co.jp/design/en/advance/index.html 　KOTOHANA was created from the viewpoint of designers as a new interface between humans and machines, which has the potential to play a role in conveying emotions and affections among people. NEC, NEC Design and SGI Japan intend to promote and advance research of the new interface. Notes* 1. Sensibility Technology: A new software technology proposed by AGI to enable computers to, through intonation and accent of the speech, recognize and respond to human emotions such as Anger, Joy, Amusement, Excitement and Calmness.

＜Reference＞ 　SGI Japan and AGI are collaboratively working on a project to develop a Sensibility User Interface (SUI) that is based on ST. SGI Japan and AGI expect SUI to be a next-generation communication interface between humans and computers replacing existing graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Both companies offer product plans capitalizing on the SUI concept to software houses and hardware vendors, grant licenses for ST engines, and develop and provide ST incorporated systems. http://www.agi-web.co.jp/English/s_m_main.html NEC Design, a design company of the NEC Group, provides cutting-edge designs not only for NEC products but also for a broad range of areas including Websites and human Interfaces (HIs). For more information please access: http://www.nec-design.co.jp/

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■Contact: -NEC Corporation TEL:+81-3-3798-6613、FAX:+81-3-3798-6333 -SGI Japan, Ltd. TEL: +81-3-5488-1834 E-mail:koho@sgi.co.jp