The development of information technology has enabled more complex and higher levels of expression in visual, audio and text media. We are now seeing creation of a richer, more diverse cyberspace making good use of network technology. For example, a virtual reality environment may include touch sensation, in addition to visual and aural senses.

  Using textual, aural and visual means of expression, the Department of Media Technology is undertaking research and education in construction of interfaces that can link people and information systems. The key to an acceptable point of contact between people and computers is advancement in three areas: increasingly user-friendly, higher levels of sophistication, and creation of entirely new methods of representation. Leading-edge research and development are being undertaken with the aid of high-performance equipment, such as a "120-inch, 3-faceted, arch screen, stereoscopic display system," and a "mixed reality experimental system" combining actual scenes with computer-generated images.

  Through research and education, the Department of Media Technology produces human resources with high-level knowledge and technological skills. The department is applying advanced research and development that will contribute primarily in such industries as information, electronic machinery & communications, broadcasting & publishing, as well as medicine & welfare, education & entertainment.

  The "120-inch, 3-faceted, arch screen, stereoscopic display system" has three 120-inch screens joined together to form one curved 8-meter screen. Three-dimensional images are displayed using three projectors. Wearing special spectacles, the viewer has the sensation of being immersed within a 3-D image, giving an experience of virtual reality. This system can be used for reproducing material cultural assets as 3-D CG images. Furthermore, using motion-capture technology, it can also be applied to reproduction and research of human movements in intangible cultural assets such as traditional dances.