Exchange program between Kazakhstan and JapanThe Takeda Foundation invited 11 students and researchers from Kazakhstan to visit Japan
from July 17 to 25, 2017, and helped them study Japanese robot development.

Orientation at VDEC Building, the University of Tokyo
Kazakhstan has been promoting industrial innovation based on their national development
plan, “Kazakhstan 2030”, and has a keen interest in Japan’s cutting-edge technologies. The
current exchange involved not only university students but also young researchers who areinterested in technology transfer from university to industry. Dr. Yoshio Nishimura, a formerprofessor at the University of Tokyo, gave an introductory lecture on the relationshipbetween innovation and R & D as the orientation for the exchange program on July 18.
The current exchange focused on two basic areas of robotic activity, communication
between humans and robot, and movable robots that help humans. To study aboutcommunication between humans and robots, the Kazakhstan students and researchers (thegroup) visited two institutes in Keihanna, the Data-driven Intelligent System ResearchCenter (DIRECT) of the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology(NICT), and the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR).

At DIRECT1

Exchange program between Kazakhstan and JapanAt DIRECT, the group studied WISDOM X, a system of semantic understanding of vast
amount of data and for proposing functions of meaningful combination of selectedinformation. They also studied auto-translating technology, VoiceTra, and tried automatictranslation from Russian to Japanese by downloading the program.
In the Kawato Lab of ATR, the group studied technology for a direct communication pathway
between the brain and an external device, Brain-Machine Interface.
In the Ishiguro Lab, the group experienced communication between humans and robots
through language. They learned that gender and the sense of touch as well as language
itself play very important roles in communication between humans and robots.

At the Ishiguro Lab of ATR
For the study of movable robots that help humans, the group visited two labs, theKuniyoshi-Niiyama Lab at the University of Tokyo, and the Suzuki Lab at Tsukuba University.
In the morning of July 21, the group visited the Kuniyoshi-Niiyama Lab of the University ofTokyo, and studied the development of movable robots that mimic human muscle. Theirrobots can dynamically walk and jump.

At the Kuniyoshi-Niiyama Lab2

Exchange program between Kazakhstan and Japan

One member of the group was a representative of the Kazakhstan Robot Contest team thatwere participating in the International Robot Competition (Robocon 2017), and he luckily
encountered the Japanese participating team at the University of Tokyo campus. They
exchanged information and wished each other good luck. As it turned out later, theKuniyoshi-Niiyama Lab supported the University of Tokyo team.

With Japanese Robocon teamIn the afternoon of July 21, the group visited the National Museum of Emerging Science andInnovation, and enjoyed an exhibition of the cutting-edge technology that included a moving
and talking robot, ASIMO.

At the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation,

During the weekend of July 22 and 23, the group enjoyed Japanese culture by visiting
historic places and modern streets in Tokyo including Asakusa and Shibuya

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Exchange program between Kazakhstan and JapanOn Monday, July 25, the group the visited Suzuki Lab in Tsukuba University, and studied aphysiological approach for the development of human assistive robots (Cybernics) based on
the understanding of cognition and behavior in humans.

With Professor Suzuki at Tsukuba University
The current exchange program gave Kazakhstan students and researchers the precious
opportunity to experience developments in advanced robotics including the development ofcommunicating and assistive robots. We hope their experience will contribute to thepromotion of innovation in Kazakhstan.

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