The National Science Foundation's Tokyo Regional Office periodically reports on developments in Japan that are related to the Foundation's mission. These reports provide information for the use of NSF program officers and policy makers; they are not statements of NSF policy.
On November 20, 1998, Dr. Y. T. Chien, Division Director (on IPA assignment at Harvard University for 1998), NSF's Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, accompanied by M. Miyahara of NSF/Tokyo Office, visited Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation's (NTT) Yokosuka R&D Center, primarily to learn about their Internet-related R&D activities. Information received during the visit is presented below.
The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) is Japan's largest telecommunication company, converted from a public corporation to a private company in 1985. While previously NTT enjoyed a monopolistic position in the telecommunications industry in Japan, it is now competing with newcomers. Moreover, in 1997 the NTT Law was revised so as to allow it to be re-organized as an authentic stock holding company. As of July 1999, NTT's business departments will be divided into three separate companies, 1) NTT West (for local telecommunications business in Western Japan), 2) NTT East (for local telecommunications business in Eastern Japan), and 3) NTT Long-distance (for international and inter-prefectural telecommunications business). These three new companies, as well as two other existing NTT-financed companies, namely "NTT DoCoMo" (DO COmmunications over the MObile Network, Inc.) and "NTT Data" (NTT Data Communications Systems Corporation), and some other NTT-financed smaller companies will constitute the new NTT group, linked together under the new NTT stockholding company.
Whereas NTT's R&D activities have hitherto been carried out by 15 corporate research laboratories and also by a number of R&D units in NTT's group companies, it is now planned for all the 15 corporate research laboratories to stay with the new NTT stockholding company even after the 1999 reorganization, although their expenditures will be shared jointly by the five group companies (i.e., NTT DoCoMo, NTT Data, NTT West, NTT East, and NTT Long-Distance).
R&D Organization at Present:
According to an overview presented by Dr. Kunihiro Kato, Senior Vice President of NTT and Executive Manager for NTT's Multimedia System Laboratory Group, the 15 corporate laboratories are divided into 3 groups; 1) Telecommunication Network Laboratory Group, 2) Multimedia System Laboratory Group, and 3) Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group; all under the control of R&D Headquarters of NTT's head office in Tokyo, and spread over 8 different locations in Japan (namely, Tokyo, Musashino, Atsugi, Tokai-mura in Ibaraki, Tsukuba, Makuhari in Chiba, Yokosuka and Kansai Science City near Nara), as listed below:
1. Telecommunication Network Laboratory Group:
2. Multimedia System Laboratory Group:
3. Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group:
At present, NTT has about 8,500 R&D personnel in total, including 3,100 researchers assigned to the 15 corporate laboratories listed above, and 5,400 people working elsewhere in developmental activities.
NTT's total annual R&D expenditure is about 300 billion yen (about $2.5 billion, at an exchange rate of 120 yen per US dollar), which is about 4.7% of NTT's total annual operating revenues. (For comparison, NSF's total annual budget for FY 1998 was about $3.4 billion).
At the NTT Yokosuka R&D Center, many of the R&D activities of NTT's Multimedia System Laboratory group are in progress, including multimedia service technology, network service technology and network infrastructure technology. For example, R&D efforts are underway to establish a new "Information Distribution Platform" through the development of fundamental information distribution technology, such as copyright and privacy protection for business transactions through Internet, security guarantees, and systems for convenient and safe use of network systems. As for technologies to provide enhanced services in what is called the "Electrum Cyber Society", R&D efforts are underway to realize a high quality image service over the Internet, including R&D on an advanced retrieval system, voice encoding technology and mobile computing technology.
Laboratory Tour:
After the brief introductory meeting with Dr. Kato, we had a tour of several on-going Internet-related R&D projects in the Yokosuka R&D Center. What follows are brief accounts of the projects visited at this time. (Note: Some of the descriptions presented below are based on information included in NTT's R&D brochure.)
Super High Definition Images
(used by Whitney Museum)
Super high definition (SHD) imaging is an advanced digital imaging system that provides the highest quality electronic image available today. For example, compared to NTSC, the current television standard in Japan and the United States, SHD provides 14 times the resolution, twice the frame rate and much greater color fidelity. The non-interlace (progressively scanned) signal of SHD ensures no "jitter" in the display of even the finest detail, creating a pleasantly "quiet" image. The square pixel sampling of SHD ensures compatibility with the high resolution scanned images found in medicine, fine arts, printing and publishing, as well as with the computer-generated synthetic images found in scientific visualization and film production.
The Whitney Museum of American Art has chosen to create as a preview of their exhibition "The American Century: Art and Culture, 1900-2000" the world's first SHD multimedia showcase of art.
Internet Money:
While electronic commerce using networks to settle accounts has been much discussed, issues of user privacy protection and other safety concerns have been raised. To cope with these problems, NTT has developed an electronic money system that efficiently maintains the anonymity of cash, while strengthening security measures. Carrying a smart card instead of wallet, users can make purchases either on the Internet or at actual stores, and transfer the electronic money between individuals in the same manner as cash. NTT's electronic money system features: 1) separation of electronic money issuing institutions and financial institutions (banks), 2) effective measures to prevent currency counterfeiting, using a combination of hardware and software, and 3) high speed signature technology to speed up processing.
InfoProtect:
It is no longer difficult to send multimedia information through the Internet. However, because it is rather easy to copy digital information, there must be a system that protects copyrights from illegal activity. NTT has developed an information distribution platform that protects the copyright of images at every distribution step. In NTT's InfoProtect, users can make a decision on purchases by viewing 'partially scrambled images' that are scrambled just enough for the contents to be recognized. During a purchase, InfoProtect delivers the descrambling key safely, and charges the user for purchased images using a credit card. After purchase, the purchaser's ID is embedded into images using digital water marking technology, so as to constrain illegal copying.
CyberBook:
Cyberbook is a book provided over Internet or other networks that can be read by Netscape or any other popular hypertext browser. A network-oriented electronic book, Cyberbook can be used for many applications, such as operation manuals, electronic catalogues, electronic libraries, electronic filing systems, and so on. NTT's Cyberbook has an "author" system which converts multimedia contents into hypertext formats for distribution via a Web server connected to Internet or Intra-nets. The "reader" or the client of the Cyberbook can then have access to the book via Internet or Intranets using web browsers. If needed, the "reader" can also attach notes to any particular page of the book for later retrieval.
InterSpace:
InterSpace is an infrastructure for multimedia 3D cyber space and for networking virtual reality. It's the first Internet/Intranet technology that lets an individual visually "be there" in virtual space. Hundreds of users can interact in a 3D environment using text chat as well as audio and video communications. In the InterSpace, one can make contact with people from around the world, and navigate through 3D worlds as an avatar with his/her own video image and voice in real-time with a 28.8 kpbs or faster Internet connection.
Software Vision:
Previously, real-time high-quality video transmission was difficult over the Internet because of the inability to predict the available bandwidth beforehand and changes over time. Through the development and application of a new client video transfer control protocol RSTP (Real-time Stream Transport Protocol), NTT's Software Vision is said to have solved this problem. This technology is used in various services such as Sumo Wrestling coverage via the Internet or coverage of an academic conference. Software Vision-2, which enables Internet video transmission through personal computer software, was developed in September 1997.
High-presence Multimedia Teleconference System:
NTT has developed a high presence multimedia teleconference system under the concept of "achieving realism that can convey the subtlest of expression." Technologies have been developed to enable attendees to experience the closest thing possible to a real meeting, and allow them to feel they are carrying on discussions with their conference partners at remote sites in such a way that they believe they are in the same room together.
Wristwatch-type PHS (Cellular phone):
NTT developed the world's smallest wrist-watch-type PHS portable telephone, with a volumetric area of 30 cc and a weight of 45 grams (including battery). The unit has been designed for ease of use, and can be used either with a headphone and microphone, or with an amplifying microphones and speakers, for maximum compactness. The phone uses voice recognition technology to enable a voice-dial function, eliminating dial buttons and howling. With its outstanding ease of operation, this phone is called a "wearable communications tool."