He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in information engineering from Okayama University, Japan, in 1996 and 1998, respectively, and the Ph.D degree in Informatics from Kyoto University, Japan, in 2001 under the supervision of Dr. Takashi Matsuyama. After working for five years as an assistant professor at NAIST, he became an associate professor in 2007. He was a research scientist of Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), during 2002 - 2006. He was a visiting research scientist at Carnegie Mellon University working with Dr. Takeo Kanade, during 2007-2009. He is also currently a visiting researcher at Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute Internatioal (ATR).