Demonstration & Talk | JIZAI ARMS
Programs & Events
JIZAI ARMS by JST ERATO Inami JIZAI Body Project, Prototyping & Design Laboratory at The University of Tokyo. Photo by Harumi Shimizu.
In an exclusive NCM event, see the remarkable JIZAI ARMS worn and activated by the researchers visiting from Japan.
Before the demonstration, hear directly from the JIZAI ARMS project collaborators in a discussion and audience Q&A moderated by Dr Belinda Dunstan from the UNSW Creative Robotics Lab. Learn about the broader JIZAI Body Project from Dr Azumi Maekawa and listen to Dr Mitsuru Muramatsu share insights into how the JIZAI ARMS were developed.
Have you ever wanted to experience wearable robotics, be a digital cyborg or feel your body in augmented form? One fortunate NCM visitor will have the opportunity to try the JIZAI ARMS themselves.
About JIZAI ARMS
JIZAI ARMS is a supernumerary robotic limb system consisting of a wearable base unit with six terminals and detachable robot arms. The system was designed to enable social interaction between multiple wearers, such as an exchange of arm(s), and explore possible interactions between digital cyborgs in a cyborg society.
These arms were part of a larger project called the ERATO Inami JIZAI Body Project with many researchers across Japan, including Professor Shuni Yamanaka's Prototyping & Design Laboratory, that spanned 5 years led by Professor Masahiko Inami. The aim of this was to create a ‘Freeing Body’ that could be adapted to our ‘smart society’. This concept envisions humans acting in unity with robots and AI while maintaining self-awareness, dramatically expanding the range of human action.
JIZAI Body project led by Professor Inami at the University of Tokyo, focuses on human augmentation through wearable robotic technologies. This project aims to enhance human capabilities by integrating wearable robotic arms that coordinate with human movement, creating a "human-machine synergy." This research explores the concept of "Jizai-ness," promoting more free and natural movement through technological assistance. The lab's innovations have the potential to revolutionize personal robotics and human-computer interaction.
Demonstrators & Speakers
Dr Azumi Maekawa
Speaker
Dr Maekawa is a Project Lecturer at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), the University of Tokyo, Japan. He is a member of Inami JIZAI Body project, and his research focuses on the boundaries between humans and artifacts. Combining robotics, virtual reality, haptic feedback, machine learning, and cognitive psychology, he explores how the body interacts with external systems. His work aims to design new motor abilities and experiences that expand human capabilities and support mental well-being.
Dr Mitsuru Muramatsu
Speaker
Mitsuru Muramatsu is a designer, design engineer, and researcher at Takram, a design innovation firm in Japan. He received his Ph.D. in Media and Governance from Keio University in 2016. From 2016 to 2023, he worked as a Project Research Associate in the Prototyping & Design Laboratory (Shunji Yamanaka’s Laboratory) at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo. His experience spans robotic art/design, form-focused product design, and the development of robotic systems that engage with human body form and motion. He participated in the development of JIZAI ARMS as a designer.
Fumiya Nakano
Demonstrator
Fumiya Nakano is a designer and engineer at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo. After studying design in the Yamanaka Laboratory at the University of Tokyo, he worked in industry, developing robotic systems and UAVs, before taking up his current position. He works on prototyping and product design, applying software engineering and mechatronics.
Dr Belinda Dunstan
Moderator
Dr Dunstan is the Principal Lead for the UNSW Creative Robotics Lab, and a senior lecturer in the School of Built Environment at the University of New South Wales, on Gadigal country. Belinda is the author of the Minor in Social Robotics for the UNSW Bachelor of Design, teaching a critically engaged and materially focused approach to the design of social robots. Recently, she was the lead editor of Cultural Robotics: Social Robots and their Emergent Cultural Ecologies (Springer, 2023). Her current research interests are social robot morphology, critical futuring, technology ethics, and cultural robotics.
Venue Accessibility
- This program includes translation from Japanese to English for two speakers
- This program includes projected visual images
- NCM is fully wheelchair accessible
- All gender and accessible toilets are available on both levels
- Hearing loop available
- NCM is a high sensory space with a variety of noise and lighting.
- This program includes seating for most attendees, please reach out if this is a barrier to you joining us and we can reserve you a spot
- If you have any other access needs please get in touch, we'd love to help hello@ncm.org.au
Sign up to our Newsletter or keep an eye on NCM socials to find out how to be the only person from Melbourne to wear the JIZAI ARMS.
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