Hideki Shimobayashi
Human Augmentation Researcher / Physical AI Engineer / Co-Creation Specialist / Maker
Profile
Hideki Shimobayashi explores the Physical AI frontier at the intersection of HCI, VR, Haptics, and Robotics. He currently holds a dual role as a Ph.D. student at the University of Tokyo (advised by Dr. Masahiko Inami) and a Researcher at Hitachi, Ltd.
At Hitachi, he bridges innovation and implementation, notably serving as the concept leader for Hitachi's virtual exhibition at EXPO 2025 Osaka. His research evolved from Brain-Machine Interface studies at ATR to his current focus on Human Augmentation. His innovative work has been recognized with premier awards, including the SIGGRAPH Audience Award, Laval Virtual Award, and Asia Digital Art Award.
Beyond research, he is a dedicated "Maker" at heart. Building robots since middle school, he has been a regular exhibitor at Maker Faire since 2016, driven by the pure joy of prototyping unique interactions.
Technical Skills
Research Fields
Business & Leadership
Languages
Frameworks & Engines
Design & Prototyping
News
- 2025.12 Major website renewal.
- 2025.11 Handoid won the Excellence Award in the Interactive Art Division (General) at Asia Digital Art Award 2025.
- 2025.11 Handoid won the NEDO Award at INTER BEE IGNITION x DCEXPO 2025.
- 2025.10 Handoid was selected for the FY2025 Content Technology Innovation Program (CTIP) and will exhibit in DCEXPO 2025.
- 2025.08 Handoid won the Audience Award at SIGGRAPH 2025 Emerging Technologies.
- 2025.06 Handoid was accepted to SIGGRAPH 2025 Emerging Technologies and exhibited in Vancouver.
- 2025.03 A co-authored paper was accepted to Augmented Humans 2025.
- 2024.10 Started Ph.D. program at Inami & Monnai Laboratory, The University of Tokyo.
- 2023.10 Added a new page about the telepresence avatar "d8r".
- 2022.03 Research conducted at ATR was published in Neuroimage.
- 2021.04 Joined Research & Development Group, Hitachi, Ltd.
- 2021.01 Website launched.
Projects
Handoid: Inter-morphologic Robotic Hand Avatar
An inter-morphologic avatar designed for multi-presence. It extends the user's agency by transforming the hand into a mobile robot that can navigate and interact with remote environments.
Brain Decoding (Co-Research)
Research on analyzing asymmetric directed functional connectivity within the brain using fMRI data. Published in the journal NeuroImage.
Come on Screen
An online presentation tool that synthesizes the presenter's video onto slides, enabling interactive presentations with gestures.
Be In'tree'sted In
A VR experience where users "become a tree." Using whole-body haptics, it simulates seasons and environmental changes as somatic sensations. Winner of the Laval Virtual Award.
Be a cat VR
A VR application that allows users to experience the world from a cat's perspective, exploring low angles and unique interactions.
Unofficial Mini Tachikoma
A fan-made robotics project recreating the "Tachikoma" from Ghost in the Shell in a compact, functional form.