Pangaea Newsletter - September 2011
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INDEX
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+ Pangaea Ring - Mr. Shinya Kato
+ Translation Assistance Robot "Gengoro" will appear on PangaeaNet
+ Activities in August 2011
It's been a few months since the last Pangaea Ring, but it is back this month. Mr. Shinya Kato wrote about how he started the part time job assisting technical development of Pangaea, and how he feels about the renewal of PangaeaNet that is currently ongoing. Mr. Kato also participates in Pangaea activities that are held at Kyoto University. Thank you for your help Shin, as always!
Another article is to introduce "Gengoro", the translation assistance robot that is to appear on PangaeaNet.
INDEX
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+ Pangaea Ring - Mr. Shinya Kato
+ Translation Assistance Robot "Gengoro" will appear on PangaeaNet
+ Activities in August 2011
It's been a few months since the last Pangaea Ring, but it is back this month. Mr. Shinya Kato wrote about how he started the part time job assisting technical development of Pangaea, and how he feels about the renewal of PangaeaNet that is currently ongoing. Mr. Kato also participates in Pangaea activities that are held at Kyoto University. Thank you for your help Shin, as always!
Another article is to introduce "Gengoro", the translation assistance robot that is to appear on PangaeaNet.
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Pangaea Ring - Mr. Shinya Kato
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Hi, I am Shinya Kato, or "Shin", and am working part-time assisting technical development of Pangaea. I am a senior at Kyoto Computer Vocational Collage and will be working as web engineer in Tokyo from next April.
I first came to know about Pangaea, when it was introduced to me by my instructor. I was asked if I would be interested in working part-time at the non-profit organization called Pangaea, as it was looking for someone who could assist their technical development. It was the time when I was about to start my job hunting seriously, so I felt that this was something that I would be able to add to my resume, and that I would be able to learn. So it was a casual try when I decided to go to the interview.
I met Vice President Mr. Takasaki at the interview to come to know the extraordinary beginning of Pangaea and the outline of the YMC-Viet Project, in which I would be involved the first. It was an agricultural assistance project utilizing ICT, where literate children would act as mediator for their illiterate parents. I was really interested in this project that I have never heard of, and I told Mr. Takasaki that I would like to join the development on the spot, and was hired as a part-timer.
While YMC system development was ongoing, I was busy with my job hunting, too. So my life then was simple and full with these two events. I cannot remember what else I was doing other than these. When the system was safely completed by the support of other capable engineers in the team, I remember that I was truly thrilled to watch the video where Vietnamese children were using the system joyfully. As I first intended (?), I could get the best result out of my job hunting, too, talking about my Pangaea experience in the interviews and so forth.
I now participate in Pangaea activities at Kyoto University and am also involved in the renewal of PangaeaNet. I give it my best, working with Mr. Takasaki, Erik, the designer, and Mr. Kadowaki or "Kadoppe", who participates as a volunteer.
As I participate in the activities, I can get direct feedbacks from children and facilitators about current PangaeaNet, based on which I would like to improve it further. The design will be renewed and the new functionalities would be added on the new PangaeaNet, so children will be able to communicate more actively.
Please look forward to it!
Shinya Kato
Informatics Dept., Kyoto Computer Vocational Collage
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Translation Assistance Robot "Gengoro" will appear on PangaeaNet
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As in the Pangaea Ring article of Mr. Shinya Kato, the renewal of PangaeaNet is currently ongoing. The translation assistance robot "Gengoro" will appear on PangaeaNet after this renewal.
In the agricultural assistance project that was implemented in Vietnam this spring, Gengoro worked to translate the questions from Vietnamese children before delivering them to Japanese experts, and to return the advice from the latter to the former.
Gengoro would start thinking immediately after it receivs questions that children got from their parents, or farmers. Then he would translate from Vietnamese to Japanese one after another. There were times when he would start crying, as the translation between these two languages was so difficult. He still tried very hard and sweated to challenge the difficult task for children and Vietnamese farmers and contributed to the project.
As a result of agricultural project in Vietnam, all 30 participating children answered that they were more interested in farming than before, and over 90% of Vietnamese farmers answered that they would like to try advices from Japanese experts in the interview that was held after the project.
Gengoro, the translation assistance robot, has not shown its appearance, but he is already working in Pangaea Webcam activity. It is Gengoro who was translating hints and answers in "Nazoren" game, where teams of children located at different sites give up to five hints to their counterparts, so they would be able to guess the right answer.
Gengoro showed his outstanding work in Vietnam project and was quietly helping Webcam activities. How will he evolve and exercise his capabilities on PangaeaNet? Watch out!
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Activities in August 2011
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Yumiko Mori, President of Pangaea gave a lecture on Monday August 22nd, at the training session for teachers organized by Tsu Municipal Board of Education.
http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2011/08/lectures_by_yum.html
Toshiyuki Takasaki, Vice President of Pangaea, gave a lecture on Tuesday August 30th at Kyoto University of Art and Design.
http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2011/08/lecture_at_kyot.html
Pangaea activity will resume at Kyoto International School (KIS) in September with the start of the new school year!
http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2011/08/kyoto_internati_1.html
Pangaea Ring - Mr. Shinya Kato
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Hi, I am Shinya Kato, or "Shin", and am working part-time assisting technical development of Pangaea. I am a senior at Kyoto Computer Vocational Collage and will be working as web engineer in Tokyo from next April.
I first came to know about Pangaea, when it was introduced to me by my instructor. I was asked if I would be interested in working part-time at the non-profit organization called Pangaea, as it was looking for someone who could assist their technical development. It was the time when I was about to start my job hunting seriously, so I felt that this was something that I would be able to add to my resume, and that I would be able to learn. So it was a casual try when I decided to go to the interview.
I met Vice President Mr. Takasaki at the interview to come to know the extraordinary beginning of Pangaea and the outline of the YMC-Viet Project, in which I would be involved the first. It was an agricultural assistance project utilizing ICT, where literate children would act as mediator for their illiterate parents. I was really interested in this project that I have never heard of, and I told Mr. Takasaki that I would like to join the development on the spot, and was hired as a part-timer.
While YMC system development was ongoing, I was busy with my job hunting, too. So my life then was simple and full with these two events. I cannot remember what else I was doing other than these. When the system was safely completed by the support of other capable engineers in the team, I remember that I was truly thrilled to watch the video where Vietnamese children were using the system joyfully. As I first intended (?), I could get the best result out of my job hunting, too, talking about my Pangaea experience in the interviews and so forth.
I now participate in Pangaea activities at Kyoto University and am also involved in the renewal of PangaeaNet. I give it my best, working with Mr. Takasaki, Erik, the designer, and Mr. Kadowaki or "Kadoppe", who participates as a volunteer.
As I participate in the activities, I can get direct feedbacks from children and facilitators about current PangaeaNet, based on which I would like to improve it further. The design will be renewed and the new functionalities would be added on the new PangaeaNet, so children will be able to communicate more actively.
Please look forward to it!
Shinya Kato
Informatics Dept., Kyoto Computer Vocational Collage
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Translation Assistance Robot "Gengoro" will appear on PangaeaNet
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As in the Pangaea Ring article of Mr. Shinya Kato, the renewal of PangaeaNet is currently ongoing. The translation assistance robot "Gengoro" will appear on PangaeaNet after this renewal.
In the agricultural assistance project that was implemented in Vietnam this spring, Gengoro worked to translate the questions from Vietnamese children before delivering them to Japanese experts, and to return the advice from the latter to the former.
Gengoro would start thinking immediately after it receivs questions that children got from their parents, or farmers. Then he would translate from Vietnamese to Japanese one after another. There were times when he would start crying, as the translation between these two languages was so difficult. He still tried very hard and sweated to challenge the difficult task for children and Vietnamese farmers and contributed to the project.
As a result of agricultural project in Vietnam, all 30 participating children answered that they were more interested in farming than before, and over 90% of Vietnamese farmers answered that they would like to try advices from Japanese experts in the interview that was held after the project.
Gengoro, the translation assistance robot, has not shown its appearance, but he is already working in Pangaea Webcam activity. It is Gengoro who was translating hints and answers in "Nazoren" game, where teams of children located at different sites give up to five hints to their counterparts, so they would be able to guess the right answer.
Gengoro showed his outstanding work in Vietnam project and was quietly helping Webcam activities. How will he evolve and exercise his capabilities on PangaeaNet? Watch out!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Activities in August 2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yumiko Mori, President of Pangaea gave a lecture on Monday August 22nd, at the training session for teachers organized by Tsu Municipal Board of Education.
http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2011/08/lectures_by_yum.html
Toshiyuki Takasaki, Vice President of Pangaea, gave a lecture on Tuesday August 30th at Kyoto University of Art and Design.
http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2011/08/lecture_at_kyot.html
Pangaea activity will resume at Kyoto International School (KIS) in September with the start of the new school year!
http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2011/08/kyoto_internati_1.html
Posted by: ayako | 3. Newsletter
