Yoshikazu Seki, Ph.D. Senior Research Scientist Physical Fitness Technology Group, Human Technology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). AIST Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8566 JAPAN. Phone: +81-29-861-6716, Fax: +81-29-861-6774 E-mail : [email protected] URL : http://staff.aist.go.jp/yoshikazu-seki/index.html

Dr. Yoshikazu Seki was born in Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan, in 1966. He received the Ph.D. degree in engineering from Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan in 1994.

He is currently the Senior Research Scientist of Human Technology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. His research interests include training method and assistive technology for the blind people by using auditory obstacle perception, sound localization, echo perception, or other auditory cues.

Dr. Seki is a member of the Acoustical Society of Japan, Japanese Association for an Inclusive Society, Japanese Association of Rehabilitation for the Visually Impaired, Rehabilitation Engineering Society of Japan, and Association of Sensory Substitution, Japan. He is also a secretary of Association of Sensory Substitution, a part-time instructor of The College of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Japan, and a member of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 35 (User Interface).