Akihiro Masaya

Akihiro Masaya

Profile

  • B.A. (Science), Tokyo University of Science Ph.D. in Applied Particle Beam Science, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ibaraki University
  • 4D Sensor Inc. President & CEO
 

Message

My specialty is image processing and image metrology.For more than 20 years, I have conducted research mainly about software, and have been involved in the application of image processing in the inspection process of manufactured products, as well as in the research and development of real-time shape measurement and displacement distribution measurement using cameras.

So far, we have applied for several patents, mainly in our field of expertise, and have been working on their practical application.Unlike papers, patents are subject to maintenance costs.In addition, the period of exclusivity is limited.It is necessary to assess the market and rapidly implement them in society.If a company cannot make a profit from a patent, it must abandon it or sell it.There are also a defensive patents, which prevent a third party from using the patent, but the decision on whether or not to continue to hold the patent right will depend on a combination of cost and merit.It is necessary to consider the handling of patents not only from a technical point of view but also from a management point of view.

Independently, I have developed information games. Some of them were developed midway and some were developed to completion.I have also produced analog card and board games, which were later converted to software.The process of creating an analog game involves coming up with your own rules, making a prototype, modifying and improving it through repeated test play, printing cards and manuals, and creating the product.A series of tasks that also coincides with the software development process.Repeating this process over and over again sometimes produces unexpected new ideas.In my case, when I was making a mini shogi (Japanese chess) game with a 5x5 board, I came up with the idea that a phase of shogi could be regarded as a single HTML file, and the transition from phase to phase could be expressed by hyperlinks.After creating this, I was granted a patent for an invention that developed and improved on this idea.Simply put, it is a way to implement a Shogi early game phase database in a collection of HTML files.In practice, this required a huge number of HTML files and a large number of servers, making practical implementation difficult.

When you are seriously engaged in making something with the sole intention of playing with it, you are bound to make interesting discoveries.Sometimes these findings are useful in areas unrelated to gaming.Playing is learning.Let's create unique and interesting games whilst building a better society in terms of both "play" and "learning".

Responsible Subject

  • Qualitative Data: Analysis and Transformation

Field of Specialization

  • Image processing Image measurement

Business Performance

Awards

  • Encouragement Award, FC2.Inc.
  • Sponsor's Award, OPT Inc.
  • Encouragement Award, Himeji Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  • Technical Award, The Japan Society of Experimental Mechanics
  • Technology Scholarship, The Japan Society for Precision Engineering
  • Excellence Award, 21st KSP Business Innovation School
  • Japan Association for Archeoinformatics Kanda Award, Japan Association for Archeoinformatics
  • Excellence Award for "Community Development", The Senshu Ikeda Bank, Ltd.
  • Grand Prize, 3rd Tech Plan Grand Prix, Leave a Nest Co.
  • OMRON Prize, 3rd Tech Plan Grand Prix, OMRON Ventures, Co.
  • Growth Award, Real Tech Venture of the Year 2016, Leave a Nest Co.
  • Wakayama Prefecture Certified Founder Certification No. 009
  • Wakayama Prefecture Invention Award

and many others

Academic papers, International Conference Papers, etc.

  • A. Masatani, A. Minato, and T. Ozawa, A Proposal for Storage Method of Visual Inspection Images of Printed Circuit Boards Using Video Format, Journal of the Institute of Electronics Packaging, Vol.12, No.1, p.46-52, 2009
  • Akihiro Masatani, Motoharu Fujigaki, Yoshiharu Morimoto, and Ryosuke Murakami, Development of Memory Board for 3D Shape Measurement Using Full Space Tabling Method, Experimental Mechanics, Vol.10, No.3, p.333-339, 2010.9
  • A. Masatani, M. Fujigaki, Y. Morimoto, and R. Murakami, A Study on Measurement Accuracy in Shape Measurement Using Full-Space Tabling Method by Defocus Projection of Rectangular Grid, Journal of Japan Society for Precision Engineering, Vol.77, No.12, p.1151-1157, 2011
  • Masaya, A., Fujigaki, M.,Matsumoto, S. and Morimoto, Y., Shape Measurement for BGA Using Whole-space Tabulation Method with FPGA Memory Board, Optics and Lasers in Engineering, Vol.50, No.4, p.580-585, 2012.
  • Masaya, A., Murakami, R., Fujigaki, M., Morimoto, Y., High-accuracy Shape Measurement by Whole-space Tabulation Board Applied to Electronic Packaging, SICE 2010, 1717 - 1721, 18-21, 2010.8
  • Yoshiharu Morimoto, Akihiro Masatani, Satoshi Takagi, Light Source Switching Phase Shift Shadow Moiré Method, Journal of The Japan Society for Precision Engineering, Vol. 82, No. 2, 2016
  • Masaya, A., Minato, A. and Ozawa, S., Printed circuit diagnosis by image processing, The 2nd International Student Conference At Ibaraki University, Vol.2, 208-211, 2006.10
  • Masaya, A., Fujigaki, M., Murakami, R., Morimoto, Y., High-accuracy and Real-time Shape Measurement Using Whole-space Tabulation Board, 4th International Conference on Experimental Mechanics, 2009.11
  • Masaya, A., Fujigaki, M., and Morimoto, Y., Real-Time Shape Measurement by Grating Projection Method Applied to Electronic Packaging, International Conference on Advanced Phase Measurement Methods in Optics and Imaging, 401-408, 2010

and 33 other non-authored papers