Vanguard
Transforming the Landscape of the World with Database
Professor Yasushi Kiyoki has always wanted to create an intelligent world through the database. Today he is developing the power of the database to support society in real ways. We spoke to Professor Kiyoki about what a database does and what roles it can play in the future. He showed us what he was doing and in the process we realized that his research was blazing a trail of innovation and discover.
KIYOKI, Yasushi
ProfessorFaculty of Environment and Information Studies
Mapping the Real World
I first heard about the database in
1977 when I was an undergraduate student at the Faculty of
Engineering, Keio University. I was doing graduation work and had
joined the lab of Professor Hideo Aiso, who later became the first
dean of the Faculty of Environmental Information. The foundation for
the current database technology had just been proposed in a paper
published in 1970. In those days, database technology was still in
its infancy compared to other fields of computer technology. However,
Professor Aiso and the other members of his lab were convinced that
database would be a very important computer science technology in the
near future. Since there was not much information available at the
time, we had to go to great length to collect any research work or
papers written on it from around the world. We set up a reading
circle and met almost every day.Database research looks at the
question of how to map what happens in the real world as a record
within the framework of the information system. Of the various kinds
of research linking computers and society, database research is
closely connected to the real world. I became more interested in
looking at how computer science could be closely tied to society.
Selecting Information Based on Context
People use database systems all the
time. Database corresponds to the memory system in the human brain,
particularly its function of memory and recall. Database research
determines the best way to design computers that can perform such
functions.As I investigated this subject, I discovered that there was
a vast difference between the memory system of human beings and
computers. The memory system of human beings has an extraordinary
retrieval process; the retrieved meaning differs depending on context
and situation. For example, let us take the word “green.” If you
search for “green” in a regular database, it will only pull up
data that contains the keyword “green.” This is also true for
search engine such as Google. On the other hand, human beings
associate “green” with a range of meanings. If they hear the word
at a traffic intersection, they think of a green light and assign it
the meaning “go ahead.” If they hear the word when they are at
home feeling under weather, they may interpret “green” as
“feeling ill.” In the memory retrieval process, the human brain
takes into account both context and situation and therefore people
can retrieve different meanings for the same word.
Databases were
initially created on the principle that one word had one meaning, but
I wondered if a database could be developed on the basis of an
unlimited number of meanings for a single word. I changed the goal to
create a database that determines the meaning after situation and
context are given.The Longman English dictionary has about 60,000
entries for which it creates definitions using about 2,000 English
words. I took that and created a vector space of about 2,000
dimensions and positioned objects, such as words, images and music in
that space. To visualize it, think of outer space and the myriad of
stars there. If you pick out two objects in that space, the distance
between them can be calculated and data can be selected by assessing
the relationship of objects based on distance. We can determine the
relationship not just between words, but also between music, between
images, and the like by calculating the distance between them. This
concept was entirely new at that time. I named the system the
“mathematical model of meaning” and published my first paper on
the topic in 1993. This continues to be the base of my research
today.
Looking for Ways That Database
Can Serve Society
The study of database does not end with
an investigation into foundational systems alone. How to apply the
technology in the real world is a key issue. I came to the Shonan
Fujisawa Campus just at the time when I was particularly concerned
about this aspect of database. The year was 1996 and I was just
starting to develop real-world applications based on my technical
skills. I thought the timing was right to move to SFC where labs in
various academic areas engaged with one another as partners in
society. In fact, my lab does have frequent interaction with other
SFC labs. Today we are collaborating on a project with the lab of
Professor Hideyuki Tokuda, which is researching ubiquitous
technology, and that of Associate Professor Ikumi Waragai, which
specializes in German language and culture. Our joint project aims to
map German study aids throughout SFC and create an environment where
students can obtain the study aids through mobile devices if they are
near one of the mapped points. In another project—this with
Professor Atsushi Okuda’s lab—we are attempting to create a
database on the concept of space for the Islamic world’s Qur’an.
Expanding the Potential of Database
My lab not only does research with
other SFC labs, but also engages in joint projects with industry and
government. Together with East Japan Railway Company, my lab is
developing data distribution technology tailored to facilities and
services related to railways. People at train stations during the
morning rush hour and those at the stations in the middle of the day
have different lifestyles and interests. Today most of the
information for distribution is selected by the senders only based on
their intuition of what people might want. It is hard to imagine that
this method is really effective. Databases tell you what information
would be most effective at which time and at what place and make
effective data distribution possible. We are also involved in this
kind of research on digital signage.
My lab is also engaged in the area of international exchange. International exchange has been based
on language, and interchange with people who speak a different
language has not been possible unless one side learns the other’s
language. In a global world, it is very important that people have
contact with those from other countries and regions from childhood.
However, Japan does not yet have that kind of environment. We are now
developing a system for people to enjoy exchange with all kinds of
people not using language, but using pictures and music. 
We are
creating a system where people can share their “Kansei”―sensitive
recognition, such as human senses, feelings, sensitivity, and
psychological and physiological reactions―with people in the
country or region with which they want to have exchange. People can
collect and share pictures and music on the same theme, for example,
the season of spring. This system enables people to share such
information with each other without knowing each other’s language.
This is just one of the projects we are undertaking to expand the
potential of databases.
Creating an Intelligent Society
The communication functions built into
mobile phones and personal computers are quite advanced today, but
there are still many issues to resolve before we will be able to
fully satisfy our intellectual curiosity by accessing advanced
knowledge in our day-to-day lives. Many people enjoy text messaging
with their mobile phones, but they cannot yet access knowledge
bases.Database technology is not the only form of intelligence, but
it is not possible to create an intelligent society based on
communication alone. Databases can play an important role in creating
an environment for people to think deeply and conceive new ideas. To
this end, I aim to spread databases and knowledge bases throughout
society. My dream is to use database technology to create an
environment that completely transforms the landscape of the world.
That would be just amazing.
A Brief Background of Professor
KIYOKI, Yasushi
Professor Kiyoki received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Keio University Faculty of Engineering in 1978. He went on to complete the master’s and doctoral courses in engineering at the same university and was awarded a Ph.D. in engineering. In 1983 he joined the Musashino Electrical Communication Laboratory of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation. In 1984, he became assistant professor at the University of Tsukuba’s Institute of Information Sciences and Electronics, and was promoted to associate professor in 1988. After working at the University of California at Irvine, and the University of Texas at Austin (sponsored by the then Ministry of Education’s fellowship program for Japanese scholars and researchers to study abroad), he became associate professor at the Faculty of Environmental Information in 1996 and professor in 1998. His specialties include multimedia databases, kansei databases, multidatabase systems, and semantic associative searches.Major Publications and Papers: Yasushi Kiyoki, Xing Chen, and Hidehiro Ohashi, “A Semantic Spectrum Analyzer for Realizing Semantic Learning in a Semantic Associative Search Space,” Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases 17 (May 2006): 50–67. Yasushi Kiyoki, Yoshifumi Kaneko, and Takashi Kitagawa, “A Semantic Search Method and Its Learning Mechanism for Image Databases Based on a Mathematical Model of Meaning,” The Transactions of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers J79-D-II, No. 4 (April 1996): 509–519.
(16 July 2010)
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