Toshimori & Uda Team

“Intergenerational Circulation of Community Memories Using Cutting-Edge Visual Media Technology” (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B): Principal Investigator: Atsushi Toshimori, FY2018 – FY2021)   by Atsushi Toshimori & Norihiko Uda

This research aims to establish the circulation of community memories between the older and young generations with the aim of passing on the knowledge and memories that the community possesses. Even if they live in the same area, different generations experience different things and therefore have different community memories. Therefore, by exchanging their community memories, different generations can enrich their own community memories. In this research, we will develop a digital community archive system that enhances the sense of presence and immersion by adopting VR technology to promote the circulation of memories and displaying the accumulated “narratives” with related contents.

In this study, we conducted an unstructured interview survey with about 10 older people living in the Tsukuba City area and about 5 students at University of Tsukuba. In the interviews, we asked the participants to talk freely about their memories of representative events in the Tsukuba area (the construction of Tsukuba Science City, the opening of University of Tsukuba, the Tsukuba Expo, and the opening of the Tsukuba Express), as much as they could remember. Some of these stories were made into VR videos that can be viewed on a VR head-mounted display.

The Master’s and Doctoral Programs in Informatics conducts a number of other studies in collaboration with local governments and libraries. The strength of the Master’s and Doctoral Programs in Informatics is that it allows students to conduct research from a variety of approaches in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. We hope you will consider entering the Master’s and Doctoral Programs in Informatics.