LAB

Our lab studies how humans and animals perceive and behave in their everyday environment, analyzing it from an ecological perspective that sees the environment and animals as complementary, and working on design applications. Among other things, we explore the potential of design and technology to help identify and solve social problems.

Students in our lab: 10 members in FY2023, 14 members in FY2022 (eleven undergraduates, three graduates), 11 members in FY2021 (undergraduates).

RESEARCH AREAS

Design: Visual communication design, Accessible design, Design thinking, UX

Ecological Psychology: Affordance, Development, Locomotion, Injury Prevention

Digital Product: AR application, Web application, Database

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Education, University of Tokyo 

M.A., Education, University of Tokyo 

B.A., Art and Design, Musashino Art University, Tokyo

DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

For details, please visit  https://mihonishizaki.myportfolio.com/

AWARDS

• 2025 Finalist, Figaro Japan Business with Attitude (BWA) pitch contest 2025 

• 2009 University of Tokyo Akachan Project (led by Prof. Masato Sasaki) Academic Film Expo 2009 Academic Film Competition  

• 2009 Tokyo TDC, The Best in International Typography & Design  

• 2009 The Japanese Association of Qualitative Psychology Excellent Frontier Paper  

• 2008 Tokyo ADC, Tokyo Art Directors Club  

• 2007 Japan Student Services Organization, Independent Administrative Institute Ph.D. Scholarship  

BOOKS

Nishizaki, M. (2016). Drawings and traces: development and emergence of depiction on the surfaces. Tokyo, Japan: Taga Press. (in Japanese). 

Nishizaki, M. (2008). The act of trace-making in infancy. In M. Sasaki (Eds.), Affordances in Infant Development. 72-83. Tokyo, Japan: Shougakukan. (in Japanese). 

PATENT

JP2019-219455A

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

1. Design Theory and Practice (English & Japanese)

2. Education and ICT

3. Accessible Design Practice

4. System Design Theory

5. System Design Practice

6. Group Project Practice I, II, and  Introduction to General Education II

7. Design and Observation

8. IA Group Project Practice  (English & Japanese)

9. iOS Programming and Design (English)

10. Information Literacy

11. Fundamentals of Graphic Design

12. Introduction of Design

GRANTS AND RESEARCH SUPPORT

Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research(KAKEN)

1. Nishizaki, M (PI)., Visualized RPG for injury prevention at home environment. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C). KAKENHI, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Apr 2022 - Mar 2025

2. Nishizaki, M (PI), Iwate Prefectural University and Morioka city., Analysis of issues of forming a regional ICT support organization to provide digital support to older adults. Iwate Prefectural University, Apr 2022 - Mar 2023

3. Nishizaki, M (PI)., Visualizing affordances in the home environment: Building a data utilization platform for injury prevention and development of infants. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C). KAKENHI, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Apr 2019 - Mar 2022

4. Nishizaki, M (PI)., Visualization of exploratory behaviors in infant locomotion. Young researchers overseas dispatch support system, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Oct 2016 - Mar 2017 

5. Nishizaki, M (PI)., A system for the prevention of accidents and the support of motor development through affordance visualization in infancy. Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B). KAKENHI, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Apr 2016 - Mar 2019

6. Nishizaki, M (PI). Drawings and traces: development and emergence of depiction on the surfaces. Grant-in-Aid for Publication of Scientific Research Results (Books). KAKENHI, Apr 2015 - Mar 2016

7. Nishizaki, M (PI)., Using augmented reality to visualize affordances in the daily environment during the first year of life. Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B). KAKENHI, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Apr 2014 - Mar 2016

8. Nishizaki, M (PI)., The relationship between dwelling and locomotion: Discovering the house during the first 2 years of life. Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Apr 2011 - Mar 2013 

PUBLICATIONS (Peer-Reviewed Journals & Invited Paper)

1. Nishizaki, M. (2025). The Gap Between Perceived and Actual Sizes of Everyday Things: Implications for Infant Injury Prevention at Home. Cognitive Studies, 32(2), (in Japanese). 

2. Nishizaki, M. (2024). Visualizing Affordances in the Home Environment for Infants: An Augmented Reality-based Injury Prevention System. Japanese Journal of Pediatric Medicine, 56(5) 861-864. (in Japanese). 

3. Nishizaki, M. (2018). Visualizing Affordances of Everyday Objects Using Mobile Augmented Reality to Promote Safer and More Flexible Home Environments for Infants, Advances in Science, Technology and Engineering Systems Journal, 3(6), 74-82.

4. Nishizaki, M., Nonaka, T., & Sasaki, M. (2011). Creative process involved in drawing: role of visual perception in changes of posture. Japanese Journal of Qualitative Psychology, 10, 64-78. (in Japanese). 

5. Nonaka, T., Nishizaki, M., & Sasaki, M. (2010). Dynamics of the act of drawing from life. Cognitive Studies, 17(4), 691-712. (in Japanese).

6. Nishizaki, M. (2007). The act of trace-making in infancy: fundamental graphic/plastic act before scribbling. Japanese Journal of Qualitative Psychology, 6, 41-55. (in Japanese). [Winner of the Excellent Paper Award 2007-2009] 

7. Nishizaki, M. (2005). Trace-making in infancy. Journal of Ecological Psychology, 1(1), 135-140. (in Japanese). 

8. Nishizaki, M., & Imai, M. (2001). Research on color and finishing on the skyway，Japan Society for Finishings Technology, 12(1), 161-164. (in Japanese). 

PUBLICATIONS (Refereed Conference Proceedings)

1. Nishizaki, M. (2022). Development of a size-based database to visualize risks of home injuries. Safety 2022 14th World Conference on Injury Prevention & Safety Promotion.

2. Nishida, Y., Komori, K., Nishizaki, M. (2022). Automated Infant Developmental Stage Estimation Method Using Image Processing and Denver II. Safety 2022 14th World Conference on Injury Prevention & Safety Promotion. 

3. Nishizaki, M. (2022). Longitudinal Data for One: Practical Issues Using Observation and Design Thinking from an Ecological Perspective. The 40th annual conference of the Robotics Society of Japan, September 5, 2022.

4. Nishizaki, M. (2021). Algorithm for detecting longitudinal changes in congenital multiple joint contractures in the everyday environment. The 105th SIG-WIT (Well-being Information Technology) and 15th SIG-AAC (Accessibility) meetings for Information Processing Society of Japan, Mar 5, 2021

5. Nishizaki, M., Kitamura, K., Motomura, Y., Yamanaka, T., & Nishida, Y. (2020). Longitudinal changes in arthrogryposis multiplex congenita by interactions between the child and the environment. The 34th Annual Conference of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence, 2020, Jun 11, 2020

6. Nishizaki M. (2019). Visualization of Infants’ Behavior at Home Using Augmented Reality for Promotion of Development and Prevention of Accidents. In: Cocchiarella L. (eds) ICGG 2018 - Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Geometry and Graphics. ICGG 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 809. Springer, Cham 

7. Nishizaki, M. (2017). Visualizing Positive and Negative Affordances in infancy Using Mobile Augmented Reality. In Proceedings of Intelligent Systems Conference. 1136-1140. September 2017, London, UK. 

8. Nishizaki, M. (2017). Visualizing Positive and Negative Affordances in the Home Environments from the View of Infants Using Mobile Augmented Reality. The 48th Environmental Design Research Association Conference. 339. June 2017, Madison, USA.

9. Nishizaki, M. (2015). Visualizing Positive and Negative Affordances in the Home Environment During the First Year of Life Using Augmented Reality. Proceedings of EuroAsianPacific Joint Conference on Cognitive Science (4th European Conference on Cognitive Science 10th International Conference on Cognitive Science), 582−586, September 2015, Turin, Italy.