Profile

I received my Bachelor's degree and Master's degree of engineering from Kyoto University Japan in 1983 and 1985 respectively, and Ph.D. from the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science University of Southampton UK in 1995. I had been working for Nissan Motor as a human factors engineer from 1985 till 2012. My research and development in Nissan included human vibration and ride comfort, car sickness, seating ergonomics, fatigued driving, human machine interfaces, and driver support systems. Between 2012 and 2015, I was a professor in Neurology University of Iowa US where I conducted research for safety of older drivers and drivers with medical problems, and also human factors in autonomous driving. I have been working in AIST as the first Director of Automotive Human Factors Research Center since April 1st 2015. The vision of our Research Center is to establish human-centered methodologies to design vehicles to be safe, comfortable and enjoyable for all drivers. We conduct research in the three main fields of support of older drivers, human factors of autonomous vehicles and driving pleasure based on our core competencies, which are integrative approaches to understanding of drivers using behavioral, cognitive, neurological and physiological measures.