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External Awards

Best Interactive Presentation Award

Winners: Ryo Ishii, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.; Shinichiro Eitoku, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.; Ryota Yokoyama, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.; Junichi Sawase, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.

Date: December 12, 2025

Organization: The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE) Human Communication Group (HCG) Symposium 2025

For “End-of-turn and Backchannel Prediction Based on a Multimodal Voice Activity Prediction Model.”

Published as: Ryo Ishii, S. Eitoku, R. Yokoyama, and J. Sawase, “End-of-turn and Backchannel Prediction Based on a Multimodal Voice Activity Prediction Model,” HCG Symposium 2025, A-4-5, Fukuoka, Japan, Dec. 2025.

2026–2027 IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer

Winner: Doohwan Lee, Network Innovation Laboratories, NTT, Inc.

Date: January 1, 2026

Organization: IEEE Communications Society

For sustained and dedicated contributions to lecturing activities on multi-shape radio, electromagnetic wave theory, and advanced wave-domain signal processing.

Specially Selected Paper

Winners: Ryo Ishii, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.; Shinichiro Eitoku, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.; Keigo Fushio, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.; Shohei Matsuo, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.; Yoshihide Sato, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.; Louis-Philippe Morency, Carnegie Mellon University

Date: January 15, 2026

Organization: Information Processing Society of Japan (IPSJ)

For “SDCGM: Dance Choreography Generation from Music with Dancer-specific Style.”

Published as: R. Ishii, S. Eitoku, K. Fushio, S. Matsuo, Y. Sato, and L.-P. Morency, “SDCGM: Dance Choreography Generation from Music with Dancer-specific Style,” Journal of Information Processing, Vol. 34, No. 12, pp. 2–13, Jan. 2026.

Best Presentation

Winners: Koki Ebina, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.; Mitsuhiro Goto, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.: Shigekuni Kondo, Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT, Inc.

Date: January 23, 2026

Organization: The Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE)

For “Study to Improve the Accuracy of Softness Measurement Methods for Remote Palpation.”

Published as: K. Ebina, M. Goto, and S. Kondo, “Study to Improve the Accuracy of Softness Measurement Methods for Remote Palpation,” SI2025, 1D3-01, Hiroshima, Japan, Dec. 2025.

Papers Published in Technical Journals and Conference Proceedings

Soil Permittivity Measurement Using Interferometry Method with Mass-market Grade GNSS Devices

D. Kobayashi, S. Kodaira, Y. Maruo, S. Aoki, and K. Noborio

GPS Solutions, Vol. 30, Article no. 20, November 2025.

Accurate soil moisture monitoring is essential for agriculture and disaster prevention. However, existing methods often rely on expensive sensors or are limited by satellite coverage. In this study, we propose a low-cost and practical method for estimating soil permittivity using signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data in the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) format from low-cost mass-market GNSS receivers. We developed a theoretical model that links SNR amplitude to soil permittivity via the Fresnel reflection coefficient and validated it through field experiments at multiple antenna heights. By interpolating the elevation angle data and analyzing the SNR amplitude at elevation angles of 20° or greater, we minimized the effects of nonlinearity and achieved a strong correlation with independently measured soil permittivity. Our results demonstrate that lower antenna heights enhance accuracy and reduce variability. This method enables calibration at a single location and permits accurate permittivity estimation at other sites using only low-cost mass-market GNSS devices. The approach offers a scalable and affordable solution for soil moisture estimation across various soil textures, thereby enhancing the applicability of GNSS-IR in precision agriculture and environmental monitoring.

Non-complementary Driving Technique for IQ Modulator with Multi-electrodes to Generate High-order Optical QAM Signals

H. Kawakami and T. Kobayashi

Optics Express, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 5686–5694, February 2026.

We propose a configuration for generating high-order quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals using an optical IQ modulator with multi-electrodes of M different lengths. The most notable feature of this configuration is that the four arms in the IQ modulator are driven independently without the use of push-pull drives. Compared to the conventional configuration using classical IQ modulators, the Euclidean distance between symbols in constellation can be increased by 1.2 times, as our technique does not use the push-pull drives that are essential in the classical IQ modulator. Moreover, compared to another conventional configuration that uses a single Mach-Zehnder modulator and multi-electrodes of M different lengths, the proposed configuration requires half the value of M to achieve the same error vector magnitude.

Suppression of Noise Induced by Group Velocity Matching of Signal and Forward Pump Light in a Distributed Raman Amplifier

H. Kawakami, E. Yamazaki, and Y. Kisaka

Optics Express, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 7148–7158, February 2026.

In the distributed Raman amplifier system with forward (Fwd) pumping, significantly large optical noise is induced when the group velocities of the pump and signal lights become close. In this paper, we show that this noise can be reduced by utilizing our previously proposed low-noise Fwd-pump unit. The results of a QAM signal transmission experiment conducted when group velocities were close demonstrate that the signal quality was improved when our Fwd-pump unit was used, while the signal quality was drastically degraded when using a conventional Fwd-pump unit.

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