# Shieru Suzuki

Last updated: 2026-11-01

## Basic information

- Name: Shieru Suzuki (鈴木紫琉)
- Affiliation: Doctoral Program in Informatics, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba (2025-04 –)
- Lab: Digital Nature Group
- Research: Human interface / haptics
- ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8911-2978
- researchmap: https://researchmap.jp/suzuki-cl
- Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tq7-zxgAAAAJ
- J-GLOBAL: https://jglobal.jst.go.jp/detail?JGLOBAL_ID=202501008870177899

I build machines that act on the body to help initiate human action, including interfaces that move the body through electrical stimulation.

## Projects

### ChanceOperator (2024–2025)

A system that induces non-self-initiated playing movements by electrical muscle stimulation and examines improvisers' responses and preparation

- Field: Electrical muscle stimulation / improvisation / HCI
- Role: First author; design and implementation
- URL: https://cl-land.pages.dev/en/projects/chanceoperator/

A system that involuntarily moves the fingers and elbow of a performer improvising over a looped audio track by electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), producing playing at timings the performer did not initiate.

A preliminary study examined the performer's experience and behavioral strategies in responding to the stimulation after the fact; presented orally at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Ecological Psychology (2026).

#### Specifications

- Hardware: Custom 3-channel EMS circuit (Push / Release / Jump)
- Instruments: Ableton Push 2, AKAI LPD8
- Software: Ableton Live, SuperCollider, Python

#### Operation

- Input: Track tempo; triggers at random timing
- Output: EMS bursts induce finger press, release, and elbow flexion, operating audio effects
- Intervention strength: Continuously adjustable by the performer
- Safety: The unstimulated hand can stop stimulation immediately and return to manual playing

#### Videos

- ChanceOperator demo: https://youtu.be/AOMQ2Akv7j4

#### Outputs

- 身体アクチュエーション技術と協働して即興演奏する音楽家の体験と行動戦略─予備的検討 — Ecological Psychology Research 18(1), 55–64 (Japanese Society for Ecological Psychology, 10th Annual Meeting, reviewed). DOI: https://doi.org/10.24807/jep.18.1_55

### ExudedVestibule (2022–2025)

Enhancing cutaneous haptics at several body sites by synchronizing galvanic vestibular stimulation with wind

- Field: Galvanic vestibular stimulation / mid-air haptics / HCI
- Role: First author; design and implementation
- URL: https://cl-land.pages.dev/en/projects/exudedvestibule/

A system that extends air-cannon mid-air haptics with galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS). When GVS induces a sense of body sway and wind is presented in synchrony, the perceived intensity of the wind increases.

Wind arrival and the induced sway are synchronized to ±2 ms. A GVS hardware kit was also published in HardwareX (2025).

#### Specifications

- Configuration: Air cannon + galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS)
- Hardware: Custom GVS device (48 g), air cannon
- Control: Arduino, Python, BLE
- Method: Threshold measurement, motion capture

#### Operation

- Input: Automatic triggering and synchronization by the system
- Output: Enhanced airflow perception
- Synchronization: ±2 ms

#### Videos

- ExudedVestibule (SIGGRAPH 2023 demo): https://youtu.be/cyJfiS5AyeE
- Viewing experience at a pavilion, Expo 2025 Osaka: https://youtu.be/PNa3F1HVh8M

#### Outputs

- ExudedVestibule: Enhancing Mid-air Haptics through Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation — ACM SIGGRAPH 2023 Posters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3588028.3603648
- Design and evaluation of a voltage-controlled current source for galvanic vestibular stimulation research — HardwareX 22 (Journal). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00647
- ACM SIGGRAPH 2023 Student Research Competition, semi-finalist (top 16%)
- Application: a pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka — a viewing experience adding a sense of sway to footage of life aboard a ship (2025)

### BOS Airflow Visualization (2019–2021)

Visualizing air-density changes around the body with background-oriented schlieren, and a real-time FPGA processing demo

- Field: Flow visualization / FPGA / HCI
- Role: First author; design and implementation
- URL: https://cl-land.pages.dev/en/projects/bos/

Air-density changes around the body are visualized with the background-oriented schlieren (BOS) method; interaction with objects and humans based on the visualized flow was reported at the international conference HCII 2021.

Real-time processing on an FPGA (Zynq) was implemented in Verilog.

#### Specifications

- Method: Background-oriented schlieren (BOS)
- Software: Python, Jupyter Notebook
- Hardware: Real-time processing on FPGA (Zynq)
- HDL: Verilog 2001
- Capture: Interchangeable-lens camera
- Output: Density gradient (spatial) mapped to grayscale

#### Videos

- Case study: https://youtu.be/DjbdIgu7dPY
- Real-time BOS visualization on FPGA: https://youtu.be/KbkI_YWRnuc

#### Outputs

- Interaction with objects and humans based on visualized flow using a background-oriented schlieren method — HCII 2021 (LNCS, Springer). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78468-3_9
- Presentation: Campus OJT Hardware Course, University of Tsukuba — real-time BOS density-field visualization on FPGA

### Noisy Object (2019)

A media apparatus that gives a physical object, by mechanical motion, the appearance of video noise

- Field: Media apparatus / kinetic
- Role: Creator
- URL: https://cl-land.pages.dev/en/projects/noisyobject/

The behavior of video noise and glitches is implemented as the motion of a physical object. The object changes continuously but appears discrete to the eye.

#### Videos

- The Presence of Noise Signs: https://youtu.be/XA2NKwM3xVo

#### Outputs

- Grand Prize, Sobo Award, University of Tsukuba

## Education

- 2023-03 — Bachelor's, College of Media Arts, Science and Technology, School of Informatics, University of Tsukuba
- 2023-04 — Entered Master's Program in Informatics, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba
- 2025-03 — Completed Master's Program in Informatics
- 2025-04 — Entered Doctoral Program in Informatics

## Awards

- 2023 — ACM SIGGRAPH 2023 Student Research Competition, semi-finalist (top 16%)
- 2023-03-24 — Dean's Award, School of Informatics, University of Tsukuba
- 2020-11-14 — IDCAJ Chairman's Award, Innovative Technologies 2020, DCEXPO (Calmbots)
- 2020-10-20 — Special Prize "Crazy", Innovative Technologies 2020, DCEXPO (Calmbots)
- 2020 — Grand Prize, Sobo Award, University of Tsukuba

## Intellectual property

- Invention disclosures: 4 (University of Tsukuba)

## Funding & outreach

- JST BOOST (Next-Generation AI Talent Program), doctoral student support (JPMJBS2414)
- Executive committee, Digital Nature Group research support project (2023-10)
- Operations, Digital Nature Group 10th anniversary exhibition (2025-04)

## Roles

- 2025-09 – — Research Assistant, Kinetic Information Dynamics Research Group, Research Institute on Human and Societal Augmentation, AIST
- 2026 — Teaching Assistant, Embodied Knowledge, University of Tsukuba
- 2023-08 – 09 — Research Assistant, R&D Center for Digital Nature, University of Tsukuba
- 2024 — Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Programming A, University of Tsukuba

## Memberships

- Japanese Society for Ecological Psychology, student member (2024-09 –)
- ACM, member

## Contact

No email address is published. Contact is accepted through the affiliation listed on ORCID. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8911-2978