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sato@id.iit.edu
His research, for which he has received major funding from companies and governments, focuses on the creation of systems that facilitate the design of interactive products and services. He is also interested in designing physical interaction methods that bridge virtual space and physical space. One of his current projects is aimed at understanding how culture influences interactive behavior in knowledge-intensive work environments. This program is supported by ID's Tangible Knowledge Consortium, a unique corporate-sponsored research initiative funded by Motorola, Steelcase, Lante, Andersen, and Zebra Technologies. A previous project, sponsored by Interval Research Corporation, Ernst & Young, and Meta Design, studied the positioning of computing and interaction design in ID's curriculum and resulted in new courses at the school.
Professor Sato has won many awards for his research and design, including Best Presentation at the Human Interface Symposium (Japan), Best Paper award at the ACM-IEEE Design Automation Conference, and the Essen Design Innovation award together with Fahnstrom/McCoy. He is a member of the Design Research Society, ACM-SIGCHI, IEEE, American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME), and Japanese Society for the Science of Design (JSSD), for which he has also served as a board member. Professor Sato is a visiting research fellow at Tsakuba University, Japan; is a frequent lecturer and reviewer of papers; and has consulted with companies including NEC and Amdek. He holds a B.S. and M.S. of Engineering in Industrial Management from Osaka Institute of Technology (Japan) and an M.S. in Product Design from the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology.
download CV [pdf 39k]
Research Interests:
These areas are related to each other and projects are often developed across multiple areas:
Context-Sensitive Interactive Systems
The performance of a product depends greatly on the context in which it is used. Knowledge-intensive activities such as mobile work, collaborative work, and field decision-making have especially dynamic and complex contexts. Our research proposes a "Context-Sensitive Design" methodology that systematically incorporates context into the design of artifacts, and manages contexts to enhance system performance and user experience. The development of embedded technologies and ubiquitous computing requires a deeper understanding and systematic incorporation of the concept of context into systems design. This project will develop methods to observe, capture, describe, analyze, assess, manage and control context research that can be used to design context-sensitive products, systems and environments. It will also lay a foundation for developing re-configurable interface architectures which will facilitate customization and adaptation of hardware and software interfaces to the needs of different contexts and users.
Overview: Four-page research program overview [pdf, 432k]
Papers: see "A Framework for Context-Sensitive Visualization for User-Centered Interactive Systems." Sato, K. and Jung, Eui-Chul. 2005. [pdf, 122k]
"Context-Sensitive Interactive Systems Design: A Framework for Representation of Contexts." Sato, K. 2004. [pdf, 76k]
"Context-Sensitive Approach for Interactive Systems Design: Modular Scenario-Based Methods for Context Representation." Sato, K. 2003. [pdf, 775k]
Design Knowledge Representation: Multi-Aspect Design Information Framework
Design Information Framework (DIF) is a representation and structuring mechanism that attempts to link information and concepts used throughout the lifecycle of design processes, from capturing information and understanding problems to developing prototypes and evaluating solutions. Because it is a generalized framework for information representation and interpretation, DIF provides a platform for bridging between different disciplinary views, methods and activities; sharing design resources; tracing chains of design rationale; developing methods and tools; and accumulating design knowledge. Methods and tools will be developed based on DIF in the areas of user studies, prototype specification, scenario generation, evaluation, and remote collaboration.
Papers: see Lim, Sato 2001
This research was partially supported by the Tangible Knowledge Research Consortium, 2000-2002.
Model-Based Representation of Cultural Factors in Interactive Systems Design
Understanding the cultural factors of users and contexts is critical to meet people's needs and expectations for interactive systems. Yet, it is not easy to represent and describe cultural factors in a way conducive to the design process. This research attempts to develop model-based methods for capturing and representing cultural patterns of human-artifact interaction, incorporating a multiplicity of viewpoints and multiple layers of cultural formation, into a description mechanism for interactive systems design. Semiotic models of objects and activities are also explored.
Papers: see Sato 2001
This research was partially supported by the Tangible Knowledge Research Consortium, 2000-2002.
Interactive Systems: Re-Configurable Interface and Physical Interaction
The concept of a Re-Configurable Interface is explored in relation to physical, cognitive, social and cultural human factors, including issues of how people learn about tools, universal accessibility, and cultural development of patterns of use/interaction. This project includes theoretical and methodological work for developing a description of system architectures for physically re-configurable interfaces, and spatio-temporal dimensions of interaction in physical space and media space. The other part of the project is the development of prototype system that demonstrates a new dimension of interaction design by allowing users to construct physical interface devices according to their own interaction abilities, preferences, contexts, and needs of application.
Papers: see Sato, Lim 2000; Sato 2001
General Design Theory/Methodology and its Application
Research in general design theory and methodology that forms a generalized foundation for developing domain-specific design methodologies. This research takes an axiomatic approach and investigates structures and representation of basic concepts and knowledge used in design. Results of the research will be applied as theoretical and methodological mechanisms to the formation and development of principles and methods specific to the areas of research described above.
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