Statistical methods are effective tools for quality management, but the need has emerged for higher-level methods that are compatible with the current environment. We will present our research on quality management methods, such as detection of process unnatural patterns using SVM, response surface methodology based on split-plot and supersaturated experimental designs, applications of principal points to quality management, etc.

Service is intangible, yet the need is crucial for causal analysis and quantification of service and their application to problem discovery and solution. We will present actual examples taken from professional sports services, drama, and other activities, in which we quantify service quality and degree of customer satisfaction, conduct relational analysis with business performance indicators, and propose improvements based on stadium field surveys.

With the human-form robot NAO as the platform, we present an ontological robot that answers simple questions and teaches movement patterns with gestures, utilizing ontology expressing connection to linguistic hierarchy as the knowledge source.

An ontology is a knowledge source that describes semantic relations between hierarchical relationships of concepts (abstract terms) and interfaces (concrete terms). Ontologies are deemed vital to the development of next-generation Web applications, such as advancing from search to intelligent processing and database integration, but the development costs for large-scale ontologies are extremely high and progress has been slow. In the display of our research, we present a method for semiautomated construction of a large-scale ontology from Wikipedia.

Imparting a sense of satisfaction is a key factor in the design of successful products and services. We are engaged in the scientific pursuit of a design process for products and services that go beyond the ease of use and satisfaction of existing designs, with a focus on the nature of the psychological impact on both existing and potential users and the actions and behaviors thereby promoted.