Tokyo Tech News
Tokyo Tech News
Published: November 11, 2013
An artificial brain, SOINN (Self-Organizing Incremental Neural Network), developed by Associate Professor Osamu Hasegawa's group in the Imaging Science and Engineering Laboratory was honored with the Special Award in Innovative Technologies 2013 by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Twenty outstanding content technologies were selected by METI for Innovative Technologies 2013 awards.
At the special selection meeting held on October 24, demonstrations and technical explanations of the 20 chosen technologies were given to 19 members of the selection committee comprised of experts from industry and academia. Special Awards in four categories (Industry, Culture, Human, and Ecology) were awarded to those technologies which are expected to have far-reaching ripple effects and be applicable in industries outside their original content industry. SOINN was selected for the Special Award in the Ecology category.
SOINN display
Comments by the Judges
SOINN can search images, videos and audio data on the Internet and is capable of incremental learning by itself when confronted with new or previously unknown data or information objects. Therefore, this technology is expected to be applicable in various sectors and utilized as an analytical tool for big data which is constantly accumulating and being updated. This technology can possibly identify alien species from a huge number of data about living beings. Additionally, SOINN may be applied to urgent assignments, such as the assessment of situations in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, without the need to first assemble a large number of human resources.
The Hasegawa Lab, which conducts research on SOINN or this unique artificial intelligence technology, is deeply honored to receive the Special Award in Innovative Technologies 2013. SOINN is the outcome of long-term collaborative research, so I share this honor not only with current group members, but also with those students who have already graduated but made many contributions as well as experienced many hardships in previous years. I would also like to convey my sincere appreciation to all those who support our research and educational activities on a daily basis.
SOINN is already in practical use and we are accelerating its application in the analysis of big data related to earthquake disasters. This has been commissioned by the Japan Science and Technology Agency. We will continue to devote ourselves to further research in order to contribute to the safety, security and convenience of life through the use of SOINN in every aspect of society.
Innovative Technologies Special Award Ceremony
(Associate Professor Hasegawa is seated in the front row, third from right.)
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