My ATR
IWADATE Yuichi
In June 1998, I was transferred to ATR Media Integration & Communications Research
Laboratories (ATR-MIC) for a fixed period by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.). Until
that time, my only impression of ATR was that it was a research laboratory with
researchers from various companies and from abroad. At NHK, I had been working
on development of HDTV transmission systems and did not have an edge in basic
research. Since I could not have imagined coming to ATR, my first thoughts were
those of surprise and I was also very worried about my future.
When I first entered the ATR building, I unconsciously looked up at the stairway
from the lobby. I felt some pressure, but everyone, including Dr. NAKATSU Ryohei,
President and Director of ATR-MIC, greeted me warmly. This made me think that
I could somehow cope with being here. I was assigned work as the head of Department
3 at ATR-MIC. The research themes of the department were related to kansei (sensitivity)
information processing, including methods of extracting kansei information from
dances, pictures and images. The department was also requested to develop application
systems utilizing those methods. At the beginning, these themes were foreign to
me. Although the researchers in the department gave various explanations about
their research, I had some difficulty in understanding what they were targeting.
I was only able to sense that all the researchers were strongly motivated by their
research and were earnestly pursuing it. To be honest, I sometimes wondered, "Why
is this person devoting so much effort to such a thing?" Thanks to my varied experience
in research planning, engaging in everyday discussions, and offering day-to-day
advice to researchers, I soon came to understand what they were saying for the
most part. I also have an interest in dance, and through this interest I developed
a unusual dance system. We apparently became birds of a feather.
In June 2000, NHK told me to return to NHK Science & Technical Research Laboratories.
Since I had finally become a part of the ATR community, I struggled with the idea
of becoming accustomed to the atmosphere and research policies of my former workplace.
Looking back on my two-year stay at ATR, I was touched by two things. One involved
how images are considered. At NHK Research Laboratories, images are considered
only as television and research is carried out from viewpoints such as how to
increase the resolution and how to suppress degradation factors such as noise.
At ATR, however, the thinking about images is completely different. My views towards
images changed after I saw users standing in front of a camera interacting with
and playing with images, and witnessed person-to-person communications supported
by images. The other thing that touched me is how research is viewed. What might
be considered a matter of course for people involved in basic research is that
such research is about one's interest, about one's motivation. This basis should
be common to the research laboratories of all companies. However, it is not easy
for researchers involved at companies to base their research along these lines.
One of my current problems might be how to practice this while combining company
policies and traditions.
Even the environment surrounding ATR is becoming more severe. It may become more
important than in the past to return research results to the public. This might
be taken as a worsening research environment; nonetheless, in the face of such
demands, we must find new research motives and consider using the power of the
organization and nurturing these motives to achieve outstanding research. Because
the basic mission of ATR should be basic research, I hope to see further strengthening
of an environment that nurtures the character of the researcher from the aspect
of personnel development. I also hope to see a continuation of challenging research
not found in company laboratories. My hope is that, in the future, ATR will always
continue to admire researchers worldwide.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr. NAKATSU and everyone concerned
for my time at ATR-MIC. I hope that I have used this space effectively to express
my heartfelt appreciation to all.
