Enriching communication through sound environment analysis

When he was a doctoral student, Representative Mizumoto was investigating the chorus mechanism of Japanese tree frogs as one of his research themes. They chirp more than several dozen at once when the paddy fields are flooded, so it was very difficult to examine them by human ears or with a microphone. To solve this problem, we developed a small device called a "frog firefly," which combines an LED and a microphone. By arranging these devices in a paddy field and filming them with a video camera, we can tell "when" and "where" the frogs are singing by their light, even in noisy conditions. Using this method, we have created a system to visualize spatio-temporal structures (Sound Imaging System), measured frog chorus at various locations such as Oki Island and rice paddies at Kyoto University, and published the results in our papers.

What we have found in these studies is that frogs are very smart. Even in high noise environments, where you have to shout to understand what they are saying, they are able to hear the sounds around them as they croak to reproduce. We wanted to realize this high level of auditory ability in a variety of systems, which is why we founded HiLable, Inc.

By focusing on our daily communication through sound and analyzing it quantitatively and objectively, we clarify what happened on the spot and engage in various activities to enrich our communication.