12 October 2009

Official Opening of Keio-NUS CUTE Centre
CUTE Centre aims to connect millions of children and families

The Keio-NUS CUTE Centre ('CUTE' stands for Connective Ubiquitous Technology for Embodiments) officially opens its interactive digital media (IDM) research centres today. President of the Republic of Singapore, His Excellency President S R Nathan officiated at the opening of the centre, a unique partnership between the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Interactive and Digital Media Institute (IDMI) and Keio University's Graduate School of Media Design (KMD).

Focusing on connected lifestyle media and embodied interactive technologies, the Centre will have a presence in both Singapore and Japan. Home to 51 IDM researchers based at NUS and 36 researchers based at Keio University Hiyoshi Campus, the Keio-NUS CUTE Centre aims to be amongst the top 5 most renowned labs in interactive media in the world.

Jointly setup by NUS and Keio University, the Keio-NUS CUTE Centre is funded by a grant from the National Research Foundation managed through the multi-agency Interactive Digital Media R&D Programme Office[1] (IDMPO) hosted by the Medial Development Authority of Singapore. The S$20 million centre is also Keio University's first full-scale international research centre located outside of Japan.

Fourteen faculty members of KMD, all world-leading experts in their fields, are involved in the Keio-NUS CUTE centre. Researchers from the Mixed Reality Laboratory at NUS are now part of the Keio-NUS CUTE Centre. To maximise cooperation and deep research together, there will be substantial flow of Singapore researchers to Keio and vice versa. The two institutes are constantly collaborating with each other through the implementation of joint projects by synergising the expertise available at each centre.

The Keio-NUS CUTE Centre is helmed by two Co-Directors - Dr Adrian David Cheok, Professor of the Graduate School of Media Design, Keio University and Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NUS, who is also the Deputy Director (Research) of the NUS Interactive and Digital Media Institute; and Dr Masa Inakage, Dean and Professor of the Graduate School of Media Design, Keio University.

Prof Adrian David Cheok, Co-Director of Keio-NUS CUTE Centre, said, "The new centre opens up exciting new opportunities for both NUS and Keio University in terms of research and education, with a strong focus on new types of multi-modal networked communication for children and families. There will be substantial interaction between researchers and students in NUS and Keio through joint lab projects. The Centre will also have deep links with industry in Singapore and Japan."

The Centre is collaborating with several industrial partners. Recently, it received an industrial grant from NEC, Japan to develop new kitchen media that can be used for family communication. It is also in the final stages of discussions on a project using Virtual Reality for military applications.

Prof Inakage observed, "This joint collaboration with NUS and KMD will have a huge impact on the research community in this field. This Centre marks a new collaborative research approach and management style in the new global creative society."

The CUTE Centre has envisioned the development of technologies to engage all senses in a creative centric approach to make inventions that will engage millions of children and families. It has already embarked on several ambitious projects to bring other senses such as smell, taste and tactile, to create a more enriching communication experience.

Keio-NUS CUTE Centre will focus on three broad areas: developing radical new systems of children and family communication (feeling communication); building a trend-spotting engine of online digital content activities (Media Telescope Asia) and designing and implementing a Global Studio that will provide high-speed networking capabilities (Global Computing). Please refer to Annex A for more information on the Centre's research areas of focus.