# Rintaro Makino

> First-year doctoral student — Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University

I study how robots and interactive systems can support communication between people and between humans and agents.

- [Ritsumeikan Advanced Research Academy (RARA) Student Fellow](https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/ru_gr/g-career/rara/fellows/)

## About

My work sits at the intersection of human-computer interaction (HCI) and human-agent interaction (HAI). I am particularly interested in gentle interaction design that encourages participation and conversation without forcing human behavior.

## Research interests

- Human–Computer Interaction
- Human–Agent Interaction
- Social Robots
- Interaction Design
- Facilitation

## Education

- Apr 2026 — Entered the doctoral program, Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University (ongoing)
- Mar 2026 — Completed the master's program, Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University
- Mar 2024 — Graduated from the College of Information Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University

## Awards

- Dec 2025 — [WISS 2025 DreamArts Award (Paper Gallery)](https://www.wiss.org/WISS2025/award.html)
- Dec 2025 — [WISS 2025 Future Award (Paper Gallery)](https://www.wiss.org/WISS2025/award.html)
- Sep 2024 — [EC2024 Special Committee Recommendation Award for Demo and Poster Presentations](https://ec2024.entcomp.org/award.html)

## Research projects

### Externalizing Bodily Information Through a Geometric Agent (2026)

Internal states like tension or fatigue are hard to notice, let alone feel as your own. We use the emotional impressions that a shape's form and movement evoke to externalize these changes as a geometric agent, shown on a wearable device, a tabletop robot, and a shared display.

Published at: VRSJ Annual Conference 2026
- [身体情報を外在化するエージェント表現の検討](https://www.conference.vrsj.org/ac2026/program/doc/4A2-13.pdf)

### Paper Gallery: Making Paper-Summary Slides a Community Asset (2025)

Paper-summary slides created in seminars and reading groups make research visually accessible, but often become scattered after presentations. Paper Gallery is a web system that automatically builds a slide database through existing information-sharing platforms. Its searchable gallery supports knowledge discovery and communication among researchers through shared slides.

Published at: Interaction 2025 / WISS 2025
- [Paper Gallery: 論文要約スライドをコミュニティの資産に](https://www.wiss.org/WISS2025Proceedings/data/paper/13.pdf)
- [Paper Gallery: A Web Gallery for Using Paper-Summary Slides](https://www.interaction-ipsj.org/proceedings/2025/data/pdf/2B-21.pdf)

### Moderate Facilitation with Multiple Small Robots (2025)

Naming a quiet participant to prompt them to speak puts them, and everyone else at the table, on edge. We built small tabletop robots that instead move toward whoever has spoken least, as if they want to listen in — nudging participation without singling anyone out.

Published at: ICEC 2025 / HAI Symposium 2025 / EC 2024
- [Multiple Robots Enable Moderate Facilitation Through Approaching Movements in Group Discussions](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02555-5_53)
- [Gentle and Balanced Facilitation with Multiple Robots](https://hai-conference.net/symp2025/proceedings/pdf/P2-20.pdf)
- [Interaction Design of a Small Robot for Loose Facilitation](https://ipsj.ixsq.nii.ac.jp/ej/?action=repository_uri&item_id=238782&file_id=1&file_no=1)

### Pixel Board: An LED Board for a Sense of Coexistence (2024)

Pixel Board is a grid of full-color LEDs designed to create a sense that other people are present in a shared community. Multiple remote users can manipulate its display over the internet.

Published at: INTERACTION 2024
- [Pixel Board: Development of an LED Board That Conveys a Sense of Coexistence](https://www.interaction-ipsj.org/proceedings/2024/data/pdf/1C-67.pdf)

### How Should a Robot End an Interaction? (2024)

Service robots need to end one conversation before helping the next person, but a unilateral ending can feel uncomfortable. This study used a crowdsourced survey to examine when a robot should announce that an interaction is about to end.

Published at: INTERACTION 2024
- [How Should a Robot End Interaction with a User: Consideration from the Timing of Notice of Termination](https://www.interaction-ipsj.org/proceedings/2024/data/pdf/3B-58.pdf)

## Publications

- **身体情報を外在化するエージェント表現の検討**
  Rintaro Makino, Masaki Ohno, Kyoshiro Sasaki, Kairi Sugimoto, Kohei Matsumura, Yuji Wada. 第31回日本バーチャルリアリティ学会大会, Sep 2026. [Link](https://www.conference.vrsj.org/ac2026/program/doc/4A2-13.pdf)
- **Paper Gallery: 論文要約スライドをコミュニティの資産に**
  Rintaro Makino, Haruki Takahashi, Kohei Matsumura. WISS 2025, Dec 2025. [Link](https://www.wiss.org/WISS2025Proceedings/data/paper/13.pdf)
- **Multiple Robots Enable Moderate Facilitation Through Approaching Movements in Group Discussions**
  Rintaro Makino, Yuki Okafuji, Haruki Takahashi, Kohei Matsumura. Entertainment Computing – ICEC 2025, Aug 2025. [Link](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02555-5_53)
- **Gentle and Balanced Facilitation with Multiple Robots**
  Rintaro Makino, Yuki Okafuji, Haruki Takahashi, Kohei Matsumura. HAIシンポジウム2025, Mar 2025. [Link](https://hai-conference.net/symp2025/proceedings/pdf/P2-20.pdf)
- **Paper Gallery: A Web Gallery for Using Paper-Summary Slides**
  Rintaro Makino, Haruki Takahashi, Kohei Matsumura. インタラクション2025, Mar 2025. [Link](https://www.interaction-ipsj.org/proceedings/2025/data/pdf/2B-21.pdf)
- **Ice-kun: A Virtual Pet on a Low Energy Display Controlled by a Large Language Model**
  Febri Abdullah, Augustin Roussely, Benjamin Dayres, Tristan Riehs, Xiaoxu Li, Rintaro Makino, Kohei Matsumura, Haruo Noma, Hideyuki Takada, Ruck Thawonmas. International Conference on Consumer Electronics 2025 (ICCE 2025), Jan 2025. [Link](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10930195)
- **Interaction Design of a Small Robot for Loose Facilitation**
  Rintaro Makino, Yuki Okafuji, Haruki Takahashi, Kohei Matsumura. エンタテインメントコンピューティングシンポジウム2024, Sep 2024. [Link](https://ipsj.ixsq.nii.ac.jp/ej/?action=repository_uri&item_id=238782&file_id=1&file_no=1)
- **How Should a Robot End Interaction with a User: Consideration from the Timing of Notice of Termination**
  Rintaro Makino, Kohei Matsumura, Haruki Takahashi. インタラクション2024, Mar 2024. [Link](https://www.interaction-ipsj.org/proceedings/2024/data/pdf/3B-58.pdf)
- **Pixel Board: Development of an LED Board That Conveys a Sense of Coexistence**
  Rintaro Makino, Satoshi Kuroda, Tsubasa Yunoki, Ye Wente, Alessandro Brianti, Xingge Yang, Joe Volpato, Kohei Matsumura, Haruo Noma, Hideyuki Takada. インタラクション2024, Mar 2024. [Link](https://www.interaction-ipsj.org/proceedings/2024/data/pdf/1C-67.pdf)

## Recent news

- Sep 2026 — I presented our work on agent representations that externalize bodily information at the 31st Annual Conference of the Virtual Reality Society of Japan.
- Apr 2026 — I entered the doctoral program in the Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering at Ritsumeikan University.
- Mar 2026 — I completed the master's program in the Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering at Ritsumeikan University.
- Mar 2026 — I obtained an advanced-class (senshu) high school teaching license in information technology.
- Dec 2025 — I gave an oral presentation at WISS 2025 and received the DreamArts Award and the Future Award.
- Aug 2025 — I gave a demo presentation at IFIP ICEC 2025 in Tokyo.
- Mar 2025 — I gave a poster presentation at the HAI Symposium 2025.
- Mar 2025 — I presented a demo of Paper Gallery, a web gallery for paper-summary slides, at INTERACTION 2025.
- Jan 2025 — A collaborative project was presented at ICCE 2025 in Las Vegas, USA.
- Sep 2024 — I presented a demo at EC2024 and received the Special Committee Recommendation Award for Demo and Poster Presentations.
- Aug 2024 — This website was launched.
- Apr 2024 — I entered the master’s program at Ritsumeikan University.
- Mar 2024 — I graduated from the College of Information Science and Engineering at Ritsumeikan University.
- Mar 2024 — We presented two demonstrations at INTERACTION 2024.
- Mar 2024 — I obtained a first-class high school teaching license in information technology.
- Nov 2023 — I participated in WISS 2023 as a student volunteer.
- Sep 2023 — I participated in a summer school at Dalian University of Technology in China.
- Mar 2023 — I studied English in Christchurch, New Zealand.

## Contact

- Contact: https://rintaromakino.jp/en/#contact
- Website: https://rintaromakino.jp/en/

Name for citation: Rintaro Makino
Last reviewed: 2026-09-11