近山・鶴岡研究室

Research Topics †

Intelligent information processing †

Natural language processing †

Humans have no difficulty using natural languages such as English and Japanese in everyday life. However, researchers don't even know how to represent the meaning of natural language in computer programs despite the several decades of research in the field. We develop machine learning-based algorithms and techniques for natural language processing, aiming to create robust systems for text processing.

Computer game players †

We develop AI engines for games like Shogi (Japanese Chess) and Go, using machine learning and parallel processing techniques. Gekisashi is a Shogi program developed by members of our laboratory. The program is a four-time winner of the World Computer Shogi Championship and is available on many platforms including PCs, consoles, and mobile phones.

Machine learning †

Machine learning is a field of science that aims to develop computers capable of acquiring rules and knowledge from examples. Today, the application areas of machine learning are expanding rapidly, largely due to the increase of computing power and data available from the WWW. We develop machine learning algorithms for a range of applications.

Music information processing †

Music is an art of sound and emotion, but has also been a target of mathematical analysis since the days of Pythagoras. We develop a range of algorithms for music information processing, aiming to enable computers to deal with art.

High-performance computing †

Parallel and distributed processing †

We are working on performance analysis models and fundamental software for the next generation parallel and distributed environments. Thanks to the increasing capacity and availability of the wide area network (i.e. the internet) and information from the WWW, the internet itself can now be used as a platform for executing parallel and distributed processing. Environments of this type comprise many computing clusters with different levels of network and computing capacity, which makes it crucially important to properly plan how and where to perform the computations for a given algorithm. Our research goals include a) providing user-friendly interfaces for the complex and diverse computing environment, b) enabling users to develop efficient software programs in a principled way, and c) developing a software platform that can autonomously determine where to execute various programs.

Software development †

Some of our research efforts are available as practical software tools and products.

• KLIC, a parallel implementation of a concurrent logic programming
• Gekisashi, a computer Shogi player