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Nihei Lab
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A lab that supports the daily lives of people with disabilities and older adults through AI and robotics.
AboutAbout the lab
Toward a society where people and technology support each other.
The Nihei Lab researches technologies that support the lives of people with disabilities and older adults.
The lab values both inexpensive, easy-to-use assistive products for everyday life and new technologies such as AI and robotics.
The lab holds that it is important to think deeply not only about how far to advance technology, but also about what it is being advanced for.
The lab sees technology as something that creates environments in which people can be more tolerant toward one another.
Key terms
- Well-being
- Living in a good state, with one's body, mind, and connections with others fulfilled
- ADL (Activities of Daily Living)
- Basic activities repeated in everyday life, such as eating, dressing, using the toilet, and moving around
- Accessible design
- An approach to designing products and environments so that as many people as possible can use them, regardless of age or disability
NewsLab news
Review paper on assistive devices that support independent living in the community published
A researcher in the lab received the Excellence in Presentation Award at the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Home Medicine
Paper on the development of a scale measuring tolerance and autonomy published
A team of master's students won the Idea Award at a university hackathon
Paper on estimating activities of daily living in people with early-stage Parkinson's disease published
ResearchResearch themes
Aiming for a society where people and technology support each other, the lab works on "Well-being Engineering." Its research covers AI that reads everyday life, mobility that supports movement, robots that live alongside people, accessible design, and the evaluation of assistive devices.
*Illustrative imageAI Sensing That Reads Daily Life
From sensor, behavior, voice, and biosignal data collected in everyday life, the lab estimates ADL, cognitive function, and the state of daily rhythms. The aim is to capture small changes and use them for early detection and prevention.
*Illustrative imageMobility That Supports Movement and Quality of Life
The lab studies personal mobility, powered wheelchairs, analysis of driving behavior, and interfaces that assist movement. Its goal is a society where people can safely go where they want to go, even as their physical or cognitive functions change.
*Illustrative imageRobots and AI That Live Alongside People
The lab evaluates robots and AI that converse, watch over people, and present information in actual homes, care facilities, and communities. It explores what robots should be like in order to support people's dignity, sense of security, and social connections.
*Illustrative imageDesigning a Society Everyone Can Take Part In
Taking differences in age, disability, and values as a starting point, the lab studies how to design societies and technologies that make it easy for everyone to participate. Rather than having people adapt to technology, it explores how technology and society can respond to human diversity.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Nihei Lab consist of faculty, project researchers, secretaries, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and research collaborators and joint research partners.As of 2026
- ProfessorMisato NiheiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorSatoshi NakagawaPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Rollator” DirkvdM / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- AI Sensing That Reads Daily Life: “Датчик руху низ” Goga504 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Mobility That Supports Movement and Quality of Life: “MecanumWheelchair” Euchiasmus at English Wikipedia / Public domain (cropped)
- Robots and AI That Live Alongside People: “Care-O-Bot grasping an object on the table ( )” Jiuguang Wang from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Designing a Society Everyone Can Take Part In: “Tactile paving - March 2025 - Sarah Stierch” Missvain / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (JSK研究室
（情報システム工学研究室／Jouhou System Kougaku Laboratory） （岡田研究室） ): “Ars Electronica 2008 Kotaro” Manfred Werner - Tsui / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped) - Related lab (竹内・ニエ研究室): “Lab on a Chip ( )” National Institute of Standards and Technology / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (ISI研究室(Intelligent Systems and Informatics Lab)
（國吉研究室） ): “Icub full body” Jll at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped) - Related lab (Dynamics Control Systems Lab
（深尾研究室） ): “Autonomous compact tractors in a Texas vineyard, Nov 2012” ASIrobots / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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