Biological ICT Group
The Biological ICT Group is conducting research and development of technologies that will lead to new concepts of information and communications such as application technologies of brain information, an ultra-low energy and biological molecular communication technology with a high-level function, and bio-inspired algorithms that can autonomously judge changes in the situation and environment and communicate flexibly by analyzing human brain functions and biological functions in life. The group aims to develop future communication technologies that are gentle and comfortable for humans.
We aim to establish technologies that can be a basis of the high-level network society such as photonic network with a peta-bit class capacity, a high-level functional wireless network, and a fusion of these next-generation network technologies with older information and communication technology.
Life has an enormous number of amazing mechanisms--for example, self-replication, self-organization, flexibility, and plasticity found at the individual, cellular, and bio-molecular levels, as well as organisms' high energy-conversion efficiency. These mechanisms are so amazing that they cannot yet be emulated artificially.
However, when we do succeed in applying them in synthetic ways of emulating them, each will significantly benefit humankind. Through the functional analysis of human brains, cells, and biological macromolecules, we aim to develop new communication and information technologies base upon a new concept of information.
Research and development of brain communication technologies
We develop advanced technologies of integrative noninvasive brain imaging to decode brain signals with accuracy in both spatial resolution (< 10mm) and temporal resolution (< 5 ms). Applying these advanced technologies, we estimate the quality of communication in affecting the receiver's brain in a less stressful way. We also explore new versatile communication methods using the decoded brain information as the sender's intention.
Research and development of communication technology with using biomolecules and cells
Living organisms have economical and highly functional mechanisms of information transfer and processing. We have explored these mechanisms and aim to extract elementary processes for self-organization, autonomy, specific recognizabillity, and so on, which will contribute to the future molecular communications. We also aim to develop technologies for autonomous networks and interfaces by using interactions between cells and biological macromolecules.
Research and development of algorithms inspired by biological processes
We aim to design information communication systems with adaptability, which is a prominent properly of living things but cannot yet be emulated artificially. By improving measurement systems for living cells and biological molecules, we will analyze the molecular process in cells and reveal the mechanisms for the robustness and self-regulation of generic information translation and molecular catalytic reactions to external stimuli. Through this research, we aim to develop novel non-von Neumann algorithms that have desirable features and functions to self-optimize communication processes in a universal network environment.