MANPU2016 Invited Talk: Manga Generator, a future of interactive manga media

Manga Generator,
a future of interactive manga media
MANPU2016: Invited Talk
The First International Workshop on
coMics ANalysis, Processing and Understanding
1
Akihiko SHIRAI, Ph.D
Kanagawa Institute of Technology, JAPAN
@o_ob

Akihiko SHIRAi in 3 min
YumeNaviLive , pitch talk for high school students.

Akihiko SHIRAI, Ph.D (Engineering)
Department of Information Media, Kanagawa
Institute of Technology (KAIT), Japan
Chair of Laval Virtual ReVolution (2006~)
Executive Commttiee of International collegiate
Virtual Reality Contest (2002~)
ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2015 Youth Program Liaison
AKIHIKO SHIRAI, Ph.D in Engineering, has obtained a
bachelor of Photo Engineering and master of Image
Processing from Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics. Afterwards
he worked for Canon and Criterion as a game development
consultant to distribute RenderWare, a multi-platform
graphics middleware for the game industry until 2001. He
went back to academia to study intelligent systems and
obtained a Ph.D. in the Tokyo Institute of Technology in
Japan in 2004 with research concerning the “Tangible
Playroom”, an entertainment system for young children
using haptics, a floor screen and a physics engine. He was a
R&D researcher at NHK-ES in Japan, focusing on the next
generation’s TV production environment before moving to
ENSAM Presence & Innovation Laboratory in France from
2004 to 2007 for R&D of a Virtual Reality theme park project.
He worked for National Museum of Emerging Science and
Innovation (Miraikan), Tokyo Japan, as a science
communicator and exhibition planner from 2008 to 2010.
Starting from 2010, he works in the Information Media
Department at Kanagawa Institute of Technology (KAIT) as
an associate professor.

Manga Generator,
a future of interactive manga media
* Motivation from Student competition project to International new media
* Technology of Manga Generator
* IVRC and Laval Virtual
* Entertainment systems and Sensory motor play
* Research, Results and Deployments
* Collaboration with professional manga
* Player analysis
* Contents toolkit
* Future
* MGV: Multiplex Digital Signage
* Next generation as “Interactive Manga Media”

Slide - 1
Motivation of Manga Generator
• Entertainment system using VR technology.
• Enjoyable to people for all.
• Exploring future of “media mixed” creation.
• Tell Japanese manga culture to the world.

Slide - 2
Japanese manga culture

Slide - 3
Japanese manga culture
• “Shonen” category for boy’s
Ø “Dive into the manga world” is a boy’s dream.
Ø Children play “Make-Believe play” as a hero.
• Animated manga (Anime)
Ø It’s a quite big media. However,
it is not an interactive content.
Imagination is not needed for audience

Slide -4
Daiki UMEDA
“Real-time manga-like depiction based on interpretation
of bodily movements by using kinect”, 2012
Related Research
“Comic Chat”, 1996“Comi Po!”, 2010
“Manga camera”, 2012Masaki Hayashi
“Research on automatic manga generation based on TVML script”, 2002

Prototype
alpha
Version
beta1
Version
beta2
Version
RC1
Laval
Version
Slide - 7
2012/8 2012/9 2012/10 2012/11
・ Manga-like Visual
・ Automatic Layout Adjuster
・ Set a story
・ Dynamic Mood Selector
・Set a multi-story
*IVRC2012
semifinal
*IVRC2012
final
*TV Appearance：TBS
*TV Appearance：TV TOKYO
Road map
Better expression using user posture
2013/3

Slide - 1
Scenario
「Break the WALL」「Crisis of the Earth」「American Comics taste」

Slide - 9
Very simple and controllable mathematics,
it can perform in real time (30fps or more).
Kinemotion

* KinEmotion: context controllable emotional motion analysis method for interactive
cartoon generator, SIGGRAPH '13 ACM SIGGRAPH 2013 PostersArticle No. 75
Slide - 1
KinEmotion
Better expression using user posture

Slide - 12
LAVAL VIRTUAL Version
•Located is Laval city
•Linking to Facebook

Slide - 13
Contents design
•Laval Virtual 2013
•Touristic promotion
•TV program

Slide - 11
Awarded
• IVRC2012(International virtual reality contest)
• Asia Digital Art Award
• Asia student creative competition
• Laval Virtual 2013 Award

Slide - 14
Conclusion in 2013
• Entertainment system using VR technology
• Enjoyable to people for all ages
• The future of the media mixed creation
• New promotion system
• Tell the world of Japanese manga culture

What is IVRC?
* International collegiate Virtual Reality Contest establish
in 1993 by Prof. Susumu Tachi
* Contest of interaction
and virtual reality, which
fuses art and technology
* Honors the greatest Virtual Reality and Interactive
works of students
* New education system through contest

What is IVRC?
* Organized by Virtual Reality Society of Japan
* Supported by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and
Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology
* Ambassade de France au japon, Service pour la Science et la
Technologie
* Held at Miraikan, National science museum of Emerging Science
and Innovation
Virtual Reality Society of Japan
http://www.vrsj.org/

IVRC: contest of the students, by the students, for the students
l IVRC is the acronym of “International collegiate Virtual Reality Contest”, which has been held since 1993
and is the contest of Interactive products using advanced technologies such as virtual reality and robots.
Our English name changed for internationalization in 2004, because we began to invite awarded teams
from the French VR contest “Laval Virtual”.
l When you hear the words such as “Virtual Reality” and “robot”, you should feel that special expensive
machines are necessary to realize them. However, there are many ideas which can be actualized only
with handmade machines. The main purpose of this contest is for participants to gain deeper
understanding of and familiarity with interactive technologies through activities such as planning
interactive systems, making devices themselves, and improving quality of their contents.
l IVRC has not only the function of contest but also the function of education. It aims to construct the
new education system of the 21st century to develop excellent human resources, who can think, learn,
and work by themselves.
planning technology design
Team
management

Call for Submission
Deadline of submission
2nd stage, Demonstration
Final stage, Demonstration
SIGGRAPH/ Laval Virtual
Online submission
Improvement phase
1st
stage, Paper review
Development phase
IVRC Flow Chart
4 +1 projects
Annual Conference of VRSJ
DCEXPO: Digital Content Expo
April
Late June or Early July
September
October

* Semi final at the annual conference of the Virtual Reality Society of
Japan (9-11th September, Tokyo)
Demonstration in academic conference
* Grand final in Digital Contents EXPO 2015
22-25th October, Miraikan, Tokyo.
Demonstration in Public
* U-18: Youth section
* International Video Selection for the final stage

The First Presence at ACM SIGGRAPH 2002
* IVRC Committee helps the champion team submit to SIGGRAPH as
a reward to the winner.
Ø“Virtual Chambara”, SIGGRAPH2002
“Virtual Chambara”,
SIGGRAPH 2002

History of IVRC Presence at SIGGRAPH
* 2003 THE DIMENSION BOOK
* 2004 Fragra / Dis-Tansu
* 2005 Straw-like user interface / Kobito: Virtual Brownies / Ton2
* 2006 bubble cosmos / INVISIBLE ~The Shadow Chaser~ /
Powder Screen: A Virtual Materializer …..

History of IVRC Presence at SIGGRAPH
* 2007 BYU-BYU-View / CoGAME
* 2008 Ants in the Pants / Landscape Bartender
* 2009 Baby type robot “YOTARO” / Back to the mouth /
Funbrella: making rain fun
* 2010 Haptic Canvas
* 2011 Mommy Tummy
* 2015 Childhood/ vibroSkate

International Cooperation with Laval Virtual
“The winner of the IVRC Award in France will be invited to the Tokyo
stage of the IVRC in Japan as a challenger. Similarly, the winner of the
Laval Virtual Award in Japan will be invited to the final stage of Virtual
Fantasy, category “Demos”, student competition of Laval Virtual, in
France as a challenger. Conditions of invitation will be defined every year
by each part of this agreement.”

Agreement on International Cooperation
at Laval Virtual 2004
IVRC and Laval Virtual will maintain an award partnership for
three years (2004-2007): the Laval Virtual Award at the IVRC
in Japan, the IVRC Award at “Laval Virtual’s Le Village de la
Creations” in France.
J.F. Fontaine
(Laval Virtual)
Prof. S. Tachi
(IVRC)

International Cooperation with ETC, CMU
“The best work certified by CMU among other works created as student
project will be invited for the final contest of IVRC. The invited work will be
assessed in the final contest in the same way as other selected works in the
preliminary contest of IVRC and will be entitled to receive each award of
IVRC.”

Partnership
in SIGGRAPH 2010
Don Marinelli
Executive producer of ETC

http://ivrc.net/
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Entertainment Technology
Center (ETC) and International collegiate Virtual Reality Contest
(IVRC), in recognition of the growing importance of the roles
Virtual Reality and Entertainment Technology play in the 21st
century, have come to the agreement:
Agreement on International Cooperation in Virtual
Reality and Entertainment Technology
Michelle Macau
(ETC) Ambassador
Agent for Donald Marinelli
Executive Producer of ETC
Prof. S. Tachi
(IVRC)

3D moves in 30-year cycles
VR moves 10 years after３D crazes
1st
3D Craze
（the1950s)
Dawn of
VR
(the1960s)
1940 1960 1980 2000 20201920
Dawn of
3D
（the1920s)
2nd
3D Craze
（the1980s)
3rd
3D Craze
（the2010s)
2nd
VR Wave
(the2020s)
?
1st
VR Wave
(the1990s)
movie movie
Theme-park
computer
game
TV
movie movie

Virtual Reality in the 1990s
* 1989 VPL Research Data Glove and Eyephone. “Virtual reality" was first used.
* 1990 Santa Barbara Conference (The Engineering Foundation)
Virtually all the researchers were summoned.
* 1991 ICAT (International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence) was
held in Japan.
* 1992 Committee on Virtual Reality was established in National Research Council.
Its report was published in 1995.
* 1993 IVR（Industrial Virtual Realty) was held in Japan.
* 1993 VRAIS (Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium) and Research
Frontiers in Virtual Reality were held. They gathered together to form IEEE
Virtual Reality Conference.
* 1993 IVRC（International Virtual Realty Contest) was held.
* 1996 VRSJ (Virtual Reality Society of Japan) was established.
* 2001 IEEE Virtual Reality Conference was held in Japan.
* 2008 National Academy of Engineering (NSF) announced 14 grand engineering
challenges for the 21st century on February 15, 2008. Enhance Virtual Reality is chosen as
one of the 14 challenges.

23 years…
* More than 200 projects have been realized through 23 IVRCs
including 21 projects selected as SIGGRAPH E-Tech.
* Average 5 persons for each project mean over 1,000 persons
have deeply experienced and understood VR!
* IVRC students become staffs, and staffs now become world
famous professors, designers, creators, and engineers.

21 CENTURY'S GRAND ENGINEERING
CHALLENGES
* National Academy of Engineering announced 14 grand
engineering challenges for the 21st century on February 15, 2008.
http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/
* The final choices fall into four themes that are essential for
humanity to flourish -- sustainability, health, reducing
vulnerability, and joy of living.
* Tremendous advances in quality of life have come from
improved technology in areas such as farming and
manufacturing. If we focus our effort on the important grand
challenges of our age, we can hugely improve the future.
* Enhance Virtual Reality is chosen one of the 14 challenges.

Second VR Wave（the 2020s ？)
VR Challenges
* Autostereoscopic Display
* Haptic VR
* Augmented Reality
* Telexistence
* Human Augmentation

Next-generation
“INTERACTIVE
CONTENTS”

Laval Virtual
Academic Conference “ACM VRIC”
Award, Competition, Public Day

* Keynotes
* Workshop + Aural Presentation
ACM VRIC: Virtual Reality International Conference
Dr. Pattie Maes, MIT Media LaboratoryPr Alain Berthoz, College de France
Virtual avatars and real brains: how do they interact? AR and VR for learning and collaboration
Dr. Oliver Bimber, Johannes Kepler Univ. Linz
Light-Field Technology: A Revolution to Imaging and Display
Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, Emerging Analytics Center, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Beyond Fun and Games: VR as a Tool of the Trade
Christine Perey, AR for Enterprise Alliance
The Future of Work with Augmented Reality
Dr. Skip Rizzo
Director for Medical Virtual Reality Institute for Creative
Technologies - Research Professor USC Davis School of
Gerontology and USC Keck School of Medicine Department of
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Beyond Video Games:
A Virtual Reality Revolution in Behavioral Health

* Workshop + Aural Presentation

Special Session on Friday
14:00-14:20 Opening Address “Real-Virtuality”, Prof. Akihiko SHIRAI (KAIT)
14:20-14:30 “IVRC to Laval Virtual / Jack and the Beanstalk”, Mr. Shota SUGIMOTO, (Univ Keio)
14:30-14:50 “Embodied Media”, Prof. Kouta MINAMIZAWA (Univ keio)
14:50-15:00 “Metamorphosis Hand: Interactive Experience of Embodying Virtually Transformed Hands”, Nami
Ogawa (Univ of Tokyo)
15:00-15:30 “VR to Superhuman Sports” Prof. Masahiko INAMI (Univ of Tokyo)
15:30-16:00 Round table and debate, exchanges with the audience
http://superhuman-sports.org/

[definition] Entertainment system is System
which affects to human amusement.
Video game, museum exhibition, entertainment VR, media arts, e-sports,
broadcasting, social network…
1. Device and/or System
2. Service and/or Contents
3. Evaluation methods
Research in Entertainment system

* Jean Piaget (1896-1980) Swiss clinical psychologist known for his pioneering work in
child development.
* Sensorimotor play
* Symbolic play
* Rule Play
“Sensory-motor Play”

Research, Results and Deployments
*Collaboration with professional manga
*Player analysis
*Contents toolkit

Manga Generator Tottori version

Player Analysis in TEPIA permanent exhibition

In Taiwan
* Hoping Jones version
in Taiwan Manga Expo

Concept: Common issue in living room

* ExPixel is a Pixel-Shader Technology that can show multiple images on one screen at
same time.
* ExPixel
* Extended Pixel
* X-Pol (FPR for 3D)
* Extra Image…
What is ExPixel

Related Works: Multiplex display
* Direction based separation
* “Bois-Clair” (Gaspar Antoine, 1692)
* “Vari-Vue” (Victor Anderson, 1962)
* “Lumisight Table”(2005), ”UlteriorScape” (2008) by Kakehi
* Time/Shutter based technologies
* “Snared illumination” (fakespace lab, 2004)
* “ThirdEye” (Pranav Mistry, 2009)
* “SimulView” (SONY, 2010-)
* Polarization based technologies
* “FairyFinder” (Hachiya, 2005)
* “Mysterious Pond”, “A visibility control system for collaborative digital
table” (Kitamura, Sakurai. 2009)
* Hidden but not shown for naked eyes
* Patent: JPA2005-092227 (Semiconductor Energy Lab, 2005)

*Adding a new value of 3D devices.
*Realizing multiplex-hidden imagery on a consumer 3D flat
panel without any hardware modification.
*Providing content creation environment for wider
creators.
Challenge

Scritter to ExPixel: Scritter
NAGANO, K., UTSUGI, T., HIRANO, M., HAMADA, T., SHIRAI,A., AND NAKAJIMA, M. 2010.
A new ”multiplex content” displaying system compatible with current 3d projection technology.
In ACM SIGGRAPH 2010 Posters, ACM, New York,NY, USA, SIGGRAPH ’10, 79:1–79:1.
Multiplex by
two projectors.

Scritter to ExPixel: ScritterH
Wataru FUJIMURA, Yukua KOIDE, Robert SONGER, Takahiro HAYAKAWA, Akihiko SHIRAI, Kazuhisa YANAKA,
"2x3D: Real-Time Shader for Simultaneous 2D/3D Hybrid Theater",
ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2012 Emerging Technologies, Singapore, 2012
Hidden imagery
with two projectors.

ScritterH, Projector based hidden imagery
* Merge an arbitrary image A for
naked eyes and an image B that
you would like to hide to generate
a different image C and multiple-
project B and C.
* Image A visible to naked eyes while
image B with glasses.
* Figure from ScritterH project

* Naked eye: Left + Filter: Right.
* It is Implemented as a GPU based shader.
* Good for theater but not suitable for consumer usage.
2x3D: Hybrid 2D + 3D display
Wataru FUJIMURA, Yukua KOIDE, Robert SONGER, Takahiro HAYAKAWA, Akihiko SHIRAI, Kazuhisa YANAKA,
"2x3D: Real-Time Shader for Simultaneous 2D/3D Hybrid Theater",
ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2012 Emerging Technologies, Singapore, 2012

* Scritter/ScritterH doesn’t need synchronized devices.
Only needs polarization filter to separate two channels.
* However, it still needs specific products such as DMD projector,
polarization supported screen.
* It is difficult to prepare two projectors as a stuck.
ScritterH, Projector based hidden imagery

Algorithm of ExPixel (1/3)
With a circular
polarization filter
Contrast compression

0
2550
255
input
output
0
2550
255
input
output
0
2550
255
input
output
𝑎"#$
a’.rgb = a.rgb × (1.0 - 𝑎"#$) +𝑎"#$
b’.rgb = b.rgb × 𝑎"#$

With a circular
polarization filter
Inversed gamma correction

* Obtain image C with considering display gamma.
Inversed gamma correction
c.rgb = (𝑎'
− 𝑏'
)
+
,
gamma correction

With a circular
polarization filter
Even odd selection

Line-by-line: Even odd selection
R
L
Image A
Image B
R
L
R
L
R
L
Display
P polarization
S polarization
P polarization
S polarization
P polarization
S polarization
Normal Use: Parallax images
ExPixe Use: Arbitrary images

Line-by-line: Even odd selection
Only even lines Only odd lines

* Everybody can make multiplex hidden content with Unity 3D
Content Creation tool
1) Import Package 2) Set Images 3) Run!!

Multi-language presentation
Naked Channel (Janpanese)
Hidden Channel (English)

UbiCode
Naked Channel (Advertisement)
Hidden Channel (QR code)

POLAR: Physical Optical Layered AR
AR marker on the main content

POLAR: Physical Optical Layered AR
AR marker on
the hidden channel

Using Scene Naked Eye Hidden Eye Experience
Presentation Listener Presenter Only presenter can check scenario.
Classroom No hint Hint available Show hints for student who needs hint.
Museum Children Adult Explications for different age.
Shop Non
member
Member Show special price for registered member.
Sightseeing Children Adult Explications for different interests.
Medical Patient Doctor Supplementary information which should not
be shown to patients.
Municipal
services
Local
residents
People from
abroad
Communication tool between domestic
people and foreigner.
Various applications

* Converter
* XNA
* Static image
* Video
* Unity
* Static image
* Video
* Game
* AR
* Presentation
* Player Shader model 3.0 Converter
* Processing
* PHP
* Static image
* FPGA Hardware
Content creation tools

*Realizing multiplex-hidden imagery on a consumer 3D flat
panel without any hardware modification.
*Providing content creation environment for wider
creators.
*Adding a new value of 3D devices.
Conclusion

*Why it cancel the hidden image while canceling image and
hidden image are not on the same line?
*Resolution of display is very high that people can’t
recognize pixels.
*It is not recognized as a pixel,
(because it’s same size as pixels!!)
ExPixel = Contrast compression + sub pixel

Before After

* Contrast
* It needs to reduce each image’s contrast according to current algorithm.
* Resolution
* Vertical resolution became half, but horizontal resolution can be kept actual amount.
* Image with black background for Naked Image
* After pass contrast compression step, black color level 0 is pushed up to gray color level 127.
Weak Points

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
« Vorlesungen über die Ästhetik »
(Lectures on Aesthetics) 1835–8
1. Architecture
2. Sculpture
3. Painting
4. Music & Dance
(=performing art)
5. Poetry
Definition of “Arts”
Modern philosophy in
https://fr.wiktionary.org/
6. Photography
7. Cinema
8. Television & Drama (=Broadcasting)
9. Bande dessinée, Manga, Comic
10. Video Game

Manga Generator Pro by Progmind Inc

* We would mention thanks to all
contributors of Manga Generator
project, Yukua KOIDE, Wataru
FUJIMURA, Yuto NARA, Genki
KUNITOMI, Kosaku OGAWA,
Ayumi ANDO, Ryo OKAMOTO,
Hisataka SUZUKI and Rex HSIEH.
* The project also continue parallel
with “Manga Generator Pro” by
Progmind Inc.
* www.progmind.jp/service/manga-
generator/
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Q: Original Authors says yes for Manga
Generator?
A: We have afraid with our respect for the
authors but authors are already trusted
their publishers and Photoshop toolkit
helped the understanding.
Q: Dynamic scenario is possible?
A: Yes, “Manga Generator KAI” project
successes to implement dynamic scenario.
https://twitter.com/mangageneratorK
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MANPU2016 Invited Talk: Manga Generator, a future of interactive manga media