Sony Corporation

Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Kabushiki Kaisha Yakult Honsha

Eiji Yamamoto

Kazuo Ishii

Hiroaki Ogawa

Yasuharu Asano

Katsuki Minamino

Hiroshi Kakuda

Miyuki Tanaka

Masanori Omote

Hideyuki Uemura

Takao Takahashi

Shunji Okada

Kenji Nagashima

Hiroshi Amano

Masanori Mikami

Akio Kawano

Takumi Arie

Masakatsu Shimizu

Koichi Watanabe

Toru Yamamoto

Makoto Akabane

Yoshikazu Takahashi

Masashi Ohkubo

Ryuichiro Tanaka

Kazuhiro Iwai

Junji Fujimoto

Shinichi Maru

Takahiro Matsuki

Tsuyoshi Osanai

Katsuhiro Tomaru

Yukiko Miyamoto

Satoko Ikezawa

An image adjustment apparatus includes a boundary calculation unit that calculates a boundary between a follow light region and a back light region in an image based on a position of a light source and an image adjustment unit that adjusts a state of the follow light region or the back light region with the boundary being a reference.

Image adjustment apparatus and image adjustment method that determines and adjusts a state of a back light region in an image

Image adjustment apparatus, method, and imaging apparatus to determine a boundary in an image based on a position of a light source

Front-mounted in-vehicle equipment arranged to a front part of a vehicle internal space, rear-mounted in-vehicle equipment arranged to a rear part of the vehicle internal space, and a connection adapted to connect the front-mounted in-vehicle equipment and the rear-mounted in-vehicle equipment is described. Rear-mounted in-vehicle equipment controls the front-mounted in-vehicle equipment via a keyboard or game controller, thereby allowing a passenger to control the front-mounted in-vehicle equipment in a straightforward manner from the rear-mounted in-vehicle equipment instead of the driver operating the front-mounted in-vehicle equipment. The rear-mounted in-vehicle equipment can be denied access to overwriting information related to music data in the front-mounted in-vehicle equipment.

In-vehicle equipment system

An object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensional CAD-system for adding data about a drafting direction of a die to three-dimensional data about the part to be formed by that die, and a cost calculation system for calculating the cost of the part based on that drafting direction data. A three-dimensional model generation unit of a CAD system generates: a three-dimensional shaped model of a given part based on information coming from an input operation unit. A drafting direction data setting unit establishes drafting direction data when the input operation unit is operated to designate the drafting direction of the die for press molding, injection molding or the like of the part in question. A projected area calculation unit calculates a projected area S of the part on a plane perpendicular to the drafting direction of the applicable die on the basis of the three-dimensional model of that part and the drafting direction data involved. A depth calculation unit calculates a depth D of the part in the relevant drafting direction.

Three-dimensional CAD system and part cost calculation system

An in-vehicle device having a plurality of output units. The device includes content provision units for individually outputting, to each of users, a piece of content arbitrarily chosen by the user from a plurality of pieces of content, using one of the plurality of output units. The device includes a user recognition unit for individually recognizing the user who receives the piece of content through the one of the plurality of output units. The device includes a storage unit for individually storing the piece of content provided to the user. The device further includes a control unit for, when the user recognition means recognizes that a user to receive the piece of content through the one of the plurality of output units is changed to another user, outputting a piece of content corresponding to the another user by controlling the content provision unit.

In-vehicle device

A development department stores physical characteristic data concerning a product to be manufactured, such as shape and CAD data, in a database. Cost factor data are provided from a plurality of potential makers of the product. The cost factor data is stored in a database. Manufacturing costs are calculated for the respective makers based on the cost factor data, and then displayed. The provided information, the cost factor data stored in the databases, and the estimated manufacturing costs can be browsed through a network. Further, the cost factor data stored in the databases can be updated by the makers through the network.

Method and apparatus for estimating product cost

The present invention provides an apparatus for extracting nucleic acid from a specimen, including traditionally difficult specimens, in preparation for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. The apparatus includes: a shaker, a centrifugal separator, a particle supply mechanism for supplying particles of different sizes, a liquid chemical supply mechanism, a conveyance arm for transporting the specimen or tube-containing specimen, and a control means. The control means is designed to shake tubes containing large and small diameter particles and transport the tubes through a centrifuge in order to separate the nucleic acid-containing material from the remainder of the specimen and crush the material to extract the nucleic acid.

Nucleic acid extraction device

An in-vehicle device which is capable of performing control by means of speech recognition includes a monitor for displaying map and other information and a speech input microphone connected to the monitor.

Speech recognition system for car navigation and microphone

A speech recognition system for use in an automobile navigation system performs speech processing for recognizing speech or spoken words that correspond to a name of a place and a word designating a desired operation of the navigation system. When a new audio signal is input during speech recognition processing of a previously input audio signal, by holding a talk switch down for a fixed time period, the processing of the previously input audio signal is canceled, and the new audio signal immediately undergoes speech recognition processing without requiring any continuation of the processing of the previously input audio signal. The speech recognition system also determines whether an input audio signal has been reinputted within a predetermined amount of time from when the audio signal was previously inputted.

Speech recognition system that restarts recognition operation when a new speech signal is entered using a talk switch

A speech recognition apparatus and method for use in a car navigation system performs speech processing for recognizing speech or spoken words referring to a specified region. An input audio signal or vocalized speech undergoes speech processing to determine and recognize the region specified in the speech. Data corresponding to the specified region is converted to coordinate position data for the region, and a map of the vicinity of the converted coordinate position data is displayed. When a new audio signal is input during speech recognition processing of a previously-input audio signal, the processing of the previously-input audio signal is interrupted and the new audio signal undergoes speech recognition processing. Accordingly, a high-efficiency operation of the car navigation system may be performed without interfering with the driving of the car. The speech recognition and apparatus also determines whether an input audio signal has been re-input within a predetermined amount of time from when the audio signal was previously input.

Interrupt correction of speech recognition for a navigation device

A navigation apparatus and navigation method for an automobile in which a map is visually displayed and a desired destination can be set by speaking the name of such destination. A voice recognition section recognizes the destination and marks it on the map that is being displayed and the best route to the displayed destination is then shown on the map to be followed by the driver of the automobile.

Navigation apparatus, navigation method and automotive vehicles

Voice processing for recognizing a predetermined voice such as a place name is performed by a voice processing section 14 from an audio signal inputted from a microphone 11 on the basis of an operation of a talk switch 18. When a map display is based on the recognized place name is performed, an incorrect reading and a place name commonly mistaken can be also recognized. Accordingly, a high grade operation of a navigation apparatus can be simply performed without obstructing an operator driving while a car.

Voice recognition apparatus, voice recognition method, map displaying

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Saitama, Japan

Eiji Yamamoto