Kao Corporation

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Corporation

Kazuhiro Otsuka

Mikio Sakaguchi

Junji Tomita

Ichiro Sakamoto

Yoshikazu Ogura

Ryo Ishii

Ryuichiro Higashinaka

Takeshi Yasumasu

Susumu Ohishi

Tsutomu Horikoshi

Shiro Kumano

Taisuke Aosaki

Satoshi Suzuki

Yasushi Yamada

Yuji Matsui

Kazuo Oki

Wataru Mizuno

Koji Hanaoka

Hideyuki Takatsu

Masaharu Jyono

Hidetomo Sakaino

Takashi Miyaji

A communication skill evaluation system including: an audio input device; a measurement device; an utterance period detection unit that, based on the audio information input by the audio input device, detects an utterance period and a participant who spoke in each utterance period; a participatory role assignment unit that assigns a participatory role to each participant in accordance with whether or not each participant spoke in each utterance pair composed of two utterances obtained in chronological order from each utterance period; a feature quantity extraction unit that, based on the measurement results by the measurement device, extracts a non-verbal feature quantity for each participant, relating to the non-verbal action at the end of the utterance in each utterance period; and an estimation unit that estimates communication skill for each participant based on a combination, in each utterance period, of the participatory role and the non-verbal feature quantity.

Communication skill evaluation system, communication skill evaluation device and communication skill evaluation method

In communication performed among multiple participants, at least one of a participant who will start speaking next and a timing thereof is estimated. An estimation apparatus includes a head motion information generation unit that acquires head motion information representing head motions of communication participants in a time segment corresponding to an end time of an utterance segment and synchronization information for head motions between the communication participants, and an estimation unit that estimates at least one of the speaker of the next utterance segment following the utterance segment and the next utterance start timing following the utterance segment based on the head motion information and the synchronization information for the head motions between the communication participants.

Estimation device, estimation method and program

A process is described for the production of a packaged green tea beverage containing non-polymer catechins at a concentration of 0.05 to 0.5 wt. %. According to the process, an aluminosilicate which has an iron release rate of not greater than 0.8 mg/kg to a catechin-containing solution is brought into contact with a green tea mixture of a green tea extract and a concentrate of green tea extract. The present invention can provide beverages, which contain catechins at high concentration and inhibit the formation of dregs during long-term storage.

Production process of packaged green tea beverages

Provided are packaged, tea-based beverages, which contain non-polymer catechins at high concentration, are reduced in bitterness, acridness and the like, and are improved in flavor and taste. They contain the following ingredients (A), (B) and (C):

Packaged, tea-based beverages

Provided are packaged, tea-based beverages, which stably contain catechins at high concentration, are free of any salty taste, and have the inherent flavor and taste of tea. They contain the following ingredients (A) and (B):

The present invention pertains to a composite powder comprising (A) an alkali metal silicate particle having an average particle size of from 1 to 500 &mgr;m; and (B) a water-soluble salt particle having an average particle size of from 0.01 to 50 &mgr;m, of which solubility to water at 20&deg; C. is 1 g/100 g or more, wherein the alkali metal silicate particle has a composition formula in an anhydride form represented by: xM O.ySiO .zMeO (I) wherein M stands for Na and/or K; Me stands for Ca and/or Mg; y/x is from 0.5 to 4.0; z/x is from 0 to 1.0; and Mg/Ca in MeO is from 0 to 10, and wherein the composite powder has a (A)/(B) weight ratio of from 1/9 to 99/1; and a detergent composition comprising the composite powder. The composite powder is a composite powder having a remarkably enhanced storage stability of the alkali metal silicate without impairing the ion exchange capacity owned by the alkali metal silicate.

Composite powder

A method and an equipment extracts image features from an image sequence in which frames indicating images are time-sequentially arranged with respect to time. The equipment includes a unit for inputting the image sequence, a unit for acquiring a motion trajectory of an image contour of a target included within a region defined by an arbitrary spatial range and time range within the input image sequence, as three-dimensional volume data drawn within a spatiotemporal space in which each of the frames is time-sequentially stacked, a unit for acquiring a plane histogram of one of tangent planes tangent to the motion trajectory and partial planes which may be included in the motion trajectory, and a unit for measuring temporal features and spatial features of the image from the acquired plane histogram. The three-dimensional volume data is obtained by forming difference images among the frames arranged in the time sequence and stacking the formed difference images. The plane histogram is obtained as votes accumulated in a plane parameter space obtained by use of the Hough transform.

Method and equipment for extracting image features from image sequence

Method for producing crystalline inorganic builders

Method for producing crystalline, inorganic ion exchange material

An equipment for weather image prediction comprising: a field extracting portion, which calculates the velocity fields of the local echoes with respect to time and space from a plurality of time sequential frames of weather radar images for a plurality of frames therein, and which segments and extracts a field possessing similar velocities with respect to time and space as one precipitation field from said plurality of frames of weather radar images by employing said calculated velocity fields; a moving velocity estimating portion, which estimates the moving velocity of a precipitation field by obtaining the amount of movement, among the neighboring frames, of the precipitation field segmented and extracted by said field extracting portion; and a forecast image generating portion, which extrapolates a plurality of precipitation fields by employing a distance taken by multiplying the moving velocity of the precipitation field estimated by said moving velocity estimating portion by a desired forecasting time, and which generates a forecast radar image by synthesizing the resulting image.

Method and equipment for weather image prediction

A process for producing a carbon-filled ceramic composite material comprising a ceramic matrix and a carbon domain dispersed therein with a carbon domain diameter of from 0.01 to 30 .mu.m and a carbon domain area ratio of from 5 to 70%; comprising the steps of mixing ceramic powder, sintering aids and a carbon source, calcining the mixture at 300.degree.-600.degree. C., granulating the mixture, molding and sintering.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Kazuhiro Otsuka