NEC CO-DINING SYSTEM INSTALLATION
As was agreed during the collaboration established by Keio-NUS CUTE Center and NEC Japan’s Computers and Communication research laboratories, a team of students from both the Singaporean and Japanese chapters of the CUTE Center visited NEC in Nara, Japan to install the Co-Dining system developed in the past year. I accompanied my colleagues in order to facilitate a smooth installation, presentation and demonstration of the Co-Dining system.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE INSTALLATION & DEMO
As one of two members of the CUTE Center coming from Japan, I arrived and remained at NEC Japan’s Computers and Communication research laboratories for the entire duration of the visit. Prior to the installation, Young Soon and I purchased the LCD display required for our system. I liasoned with CUTE Center Singapore secretaries, arranging travel for members of the team who were arriving from Singapore and also co-ordinated accomidations for the duration of our stay in Nara, Japan. I also carried and delivered a variety of tools acquired at the Keio-NUS CUTE Center in Japan. During our visit, I assisted in the assembly of the system, focusing on the construction of the furniture that would house the subsystems of the Co-Dining system. I also documented the building of the system, as well as helped with the creation of the presentation and creation of the user manual provided to NEC members so that they can use the system.
REFLECTIONS REGARDING OUR VISIT AT NEC
During the first day we encountered some difficulties that slowed down the efficiency of the installation. Due to discrepancies regarding delivery, we did not received key parts of the system sent from Singapore until the late afternoon. Also, due to poor packing of the components, the team had to spend some time repairing many of the parts of the system, most notably the Food Teleportation System. These two issues delayed our installation but we adjusted our schedule accordingly to compensate for the time needed to solve these problems. Once installation was complete, we took a day to test the entire system in order to assure its smooth running for the demo. Unfortunately another setback to the demo was the unavailability to a reliable Internet connection. Because of this situation, we were only able to demo the system sans connectivity.
Even with all these difficulties, we were still able to present a convincing presentation and demonstration. Feedback was generally positive. Yamada-sensei, director of the NEC Computers and Communications Laboratories believed that our research was valuable. He pointed out that this research could lead to a better understanding of, what he describes as “Subconscious Communication”. One fault that he pointed out to the team was that we needed a second system so that we could actually conduct some co-dining studies. This would enable his team to evaluate the system and it’s possible uses. He mentioned that he would like to continue collaboration between his lab and the CUTE Center.