• Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
  • Ph.D., Human and Environmental Studies, March 2003
    • Thesis: A Cognitive Analysis of Ironic Utterances: Toward an unified model of utterance comprehension and communication
  • M.E., Human and Environmental Studies, March 1996
    • Thesis: An Analysis of the Comprehending and Interpreting Processes of Ironic Utterances based on the Hierachical Model of Utterance Interpretation
• Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
  • B.A., Political Science, March 1994

• College of Letters, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan (2012-)
  • Professor (2017-)
  • Associate professor (2012-2017)
• Research Institute for Language Education, Seisen University, Tokyo, Japan (2011-2012)
  • Visiting researcher
• Department of Computer and Information Science, Seikei University, Tokyo, Japan (2010-2011)
  • Senior researcher
• Media Technology Center, Katayanagi Advanced Research Laboratories, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan (2006-2010)
  • Visiting associate professor
• Department of Japanese Language and Literature, School of Literature, Senshu University, Tokyo, Japan (2008-2012)
  • Part-time lecturer in teaching Cognitive Linguistics & Developmental Linguistics.
• Department of Japanese Language & Literature, Faculty of Arts, Seisen University, Tokyo, Japan (2005-2012)
  • Part-time lecturer in teaching Cognitive Linguistics.
• Department of Information and Communication Engineering, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (2002-2006)
  • Postdoctoral fellow engaged in the group of "Intelligent Media Technology for Supporting Natural Communication between People". Design and develop a natural human-computer communication environment.
• Center for Japanese Language, Osaka University of Foreign Studies, Osaka, Japan (1999-2002)
  • Part-time lecturer in teaching Japanese as a foreign language.
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Tokyo, Japan (1996-1999)
  • Postdoctoral fellow in Intelligent Informatics. Studied in the analysis of cognitive structure of irony and other rhetorical expressions.

• How can people communicate with each other using language?
• How does people segementalise and (re)cognize the external world?
• How can people live in the world with a sustainable sense of reality?

My current research focuses on human-computer interaction and human-robot communication from the cognitive point of view, including the user involvement of computer users, the communicative functions of multi-modal information, and the organization of discourse with coherent intention.

[1] Yong Xu,Yoshiyasu Ogasawara,Takashi Tajima, Makoto Hatakeyama, Masashi Okamoto, Yukiko I. Nakano, and Toyoaki Nishida: A Two-layered Approach to Communicative Artifacts, Journal of AI & Society, ISSN 0951-5666 (Print), 1435-5655 (Online), DOI: 10.1007/s00146-007-0131-4, Springer London (2007.6). [link]

[2] Yukiko I. Nakano, Toshihiro Murayama, Masashi Okamoto, Daisuke Kawahara, Qing Li, Sadao Kurohashi, and Toyoaki Nishida: Cards-to-presentation on the web: Generating multimedia contents featuring agent animations. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, Vol. 29, pp.83-104 (2006).

[3] Masashi Okamoto, Yukiko I. Nakano, Kazunori Okamoto, Ken'ichi Matsumura and Toyoaki Nishida: Producing Effective Shot Transitions in CG contents Based on a Cognitive Model of User Involvement, in Special Section of Life-like Agent and its Communication, IEICE Transactions of Information and Systems, Vol.E88-D, No.11, pp.2523-2532 (2005.11). [PDF]

[2] Mika Enomoto, Masashi Okamoto, Masato Ohba, and Hitoshi Iida. (2009). Laughter around the End of Storytelling in Multi-Party Interaction, in H. Hattori, et al. (Eds.) Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 5447, New Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence: JSAI 2008 Conference and Workshops, Asahikawa, Japan, June 11-13, 2008, Revised Selected Papers, pp.275-287. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. (2009.4).

[3] Masashi Okamoto, Yukiko I. Nakano, and Toyoaki Nishida: Toward Enhancing User Involvement via Empathy Channel in Human-Computer Interface Design, In L. Bolc et al. (Eds.): Lecture Notes in Computer Science Vol.3490, Intelligent Media Technology for Communicative Intelligence: Second International Workshop, IMTCI 2004, Warsaw, Poland, September 13-14, 2004. Revised Selected Papers, Springer-Verlag GmbH, pp.111-121 (2005.9). [PDF]

[4] Yukiko I. Nakano, Masashi Okamoto, and Toyoaki Nishida: Generating CG Movies Based on a Cognitive Model of Shot Transition Enriching Agent Animations with Gestures and Highlighting Effects, In L. Bolc et al. (Eds.): Lecture Notes in Computer Science Vol.3490, Intelligent Media Technology for Communicative Intelligence: Second International Workshop, IMTCI 2004, Warsaw, Poland, September 13-14, 2004. Revised Selected Papers, Springer-Verlag GmbH, pp.91-102 (2005.9).

[5] Kazunori Okamoto, Yukiko I. Nakano, Masashi Okamoto, Hung-Hsuan Huang and Toyoaki Nishida: Generating CG Movies Based on a Cognitive Model of Shot Transition, In R. Khosla et al. (Eds.) Lecture Notes in Computer Science Vol.3683, Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems: 9th International Conference, KES 2005, Melbourne, Australia, September 14-16, 2005, Proceedings, PartIII, Springer-Verlag GmbH, pp.848-854 (2005.9).

[6] Yoshiyasu Ogasawara, Masashi Okamoto, Yukiko I. Nakano, Yong Xu, and Toyoaki Nishida: How to Make Robot a Robust and Interactive Communicator, In R. Khosla et al. (Eds.) Lecture Notes in Computer Science Vol.3683, Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems: 9th International Conference, KES 2005, Melbourne, Australia, September 14-16, 2005, Proceedings, PartIII, Springer-Verlag GmbH, pp.289-300 (2005.9).

[2] Sachi Kato and Masashi Okamoto: Narrative recognition models: Accounting for narrative similarity for individual readers, In 16th International Pragmatics Conference (IPrA2019), Hong Kong, China (2019.6.)

[3] Sachi Yasuda, Masashi Okamoto, and Eiji Aramaki: Ad hoc Creature: Lost and Added in Translation from Description to Depiction, In the 34th annual meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci 2012), Sapporo, Japan (2012.8.)

[4] Sachi Yasuda, Masashi Okamoto, and Eiji Aramaki: Mind the Gap between Text and Real World: A Corpus-based Study on the Prototype Effects of Animal Body Parts, In 4th UK Cognitive Linguistics Conference (UK-CLC4), King's College London, London, UK (2012.7.)

[5] Takeo Tsukamoto, Yumi Muroya, Masashi Okamoto, and Yukiko Nakano: Collection and Analysis of Multimodal Interaction in Direction Giving Dialogues: Towards an Automatic Gesture Selection Mechanism for Metaverse Avatars, In Workshop on the Uses of Agents for Education, Games and Simulations, AAMAS 2011, Taipei, Taiwan (2011.5.)

[6] Masashi Okamoto: Triple aspects of subjectivity in understanding figurative utterances: cognitive pragmatics view, In Language, Communication and Cognition: International Conference: August 4th-7th 2008, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK (2008.8)

[7] Mika Enomoto, Masashi Okamoto, Masato Ohba, and Hitoshi Iida: Laughter around the End of Storytelling in Multi-Party Interaction, In Proceedings of LIBM'08: First International Workshop on Laughter in Interaction and Body Movement, pp.20-27, June 10, 2008, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan (2008.6).

[8] Masato Ohba, Masashi Okamoto, Mika Enomoto, and Hitoshi Iida: Tittering and Laughing: a Case of Manzai Audience, In Proceedings of LIBM'08: First International Workshop on Laughter in Interaction and Body Movement, pp.34-39, June 10, 2008, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan (2008.6).

[9] Masashi Okamoto: Pragmatic Subjectivity in Metaphors and Similes, In 10th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference, July 15th-20th, 2007 SPECIAL THEME: Cognitive Linguistics in Action: From Theory to Application and Back, Book of Abstracts - genral sessions, p.190, AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, Poland, (2007.7). [slide]

[10] Masashi Okamoto: Irony as Cognitive Deviation, In 9th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference: Language, Mind and Brain, pp.317-318, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, (2005.7). [slide]

[11] Masashi Okamoto, Kazunori Okamoto, Yukiko I. Nakano and Toyoaki Nishida: Supporting the Creation of Immersive CG Contents with Enhanced User Involvement, In Proceedings of the Symposium on Conversational Informatics for Supporting Social Intelligence and Interaction - Situational and Environmental Information Enforcing Involvement in Conversation, AISB'05: Social Intelligence and Interaction in Animals, Robots and Agents, pp.87-96, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK, (2005.4). [PDF]

[12] Yoshiyasu Ogasawara, Masashi Okamoto, Yukiko I. Nakano and Toyoaki Nishida: Establishing Natural Communication Environment between a Human and a Listener Robot, In Proceedings of the Symposium on Conversational Informatics for Supporting Social Intelligence and Interaction - Situational and Environmental Information Enforcing Involvement in Conversation, AISB'05: Social Intelligence and Interaction in Animals, Robots and Agents, pp.42-51, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK, (2005.4). [PDF]

[13] Masashi Okamoto, Yoshiyasu Ogasawara, Yukiko I. Nakano and Toyoaki Nishida: Enhancing User Involvement via Joint Attention with a Listener Robot, In Proceedings of Social Intelligence Design 2005 (SID 2005), Stanford, CA, USA, (2005.3). [PDF]

[14] Yong Xu, Yoshiyasu Ogasawara, Takashi Tajima, Makoto Hatakeyama, Masashi Okamoto, Yukiko I. Nakano, Toyoaki Nishida: A Two-layered Approach to Communicative Artifacts, In Proceedings of Social Intelligence Design 2005 (SID 2005), Stanford, CA, USA, (2005.3).

[15] Masashi Okamoto, Yukiko I. Nakano and Toyoaki Nishida: Toward Enhancing User Involvement via Empathy Channel in Human-Computer Interface Design, In Proceedings of International Workshop on Intelligent Media Technology for Communicative Intelligence (IMTCI 2004), pp.129-132, Warsaw, Poland, (2004.9). [PDF]

[16] Burin Anuchitkittikul, Masashi Okamoto, Sadao Kurohashi, Toyoaki Nishida, and Yoichi Sato: Video Content Manipulation by Means of Content Annotation and Nonsymbolic Gestural Interfaces, In Proceedings of Eighth International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems (KES2004), pp.385-392, Wellington, New Zealand (2004.9).

[17] Tomohide Shibata, Masato Tachiki, Daisuke Kawahara, Masashi Okamoto, Sadao Kurohashi, and Toyoaki Nishida: Structural Analysis of Instruction Utterances using Linguistic and Visual Information, In Proceedings of Eighth International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems (KES2004), pp.393-400, Wellington, New Zealand (2004.9). [PDF]

[18] Yukiko I. Nakano, Masashi Okamoto, and Toyoaki Nishida: Enriching Agent Animations with Gestures and Highlighting Effects, In Proceedings of International Workshop on Intelligent Media Technology for Communicative Intelligence (IMTCI 2004), pp.112-115, Warsaw, Poland, (2004.9).

[19] Nobuhiro Kaji, Masashi Okamoto and Sadao Kurohashi: Paraphrasing Predicates from Written Language to Spoken Language Using the Web, In Proceedings of The Human Language Technology Conference (HLT-NAACL04), pp.241-248, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, (2004.5). [PDF]

[20] Yukiko I. Nakano, Masashi Okamoto, Daisuke Kawahara, Qing Li, Toyoaki Nishida: Converting Text into Agent Animations: Assigning Gestures to Text, In Proceedings of The Human Language Technology Conference (HLT-NAACL04) (short paper). (2004.5).

[21] Burin Anuchitkittikul, Masashi Okamoto, Hidekazu Kubota and Toyoaki Nishida: Gestural Interface for the Creation of Personalized Video-Based Content, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Information Technology for Application (ICITA 2004), China, 2004.

[22] Q. Li, Y. Nakano, M. Okamoto, and T.Nishida: Highlighting Multimodal Synchronization for Embodied Conversational Agents, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Information Technology for Application (ICITA 2004), China, 2004.

[23] Tomohide Shibata, Daisuke Kawahara, Masashi Okamoto, Sadao Kurohashi, and Toyoaki Nishida: Structural Analysis of Instruction Utterances, In Proceedings of Seventh International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems (KES 2003), pp.1054-1061, University of Oxford, United Kingdom (2003.9). [PDF]

[24] Masashi Okamoto: Understanding irony as communicative reality, Working Notes WS-5 International Workshop on Intelligent Media Technology for Communicative Reality, PRICAI-02 (Seventh Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence), pp.61-64, (2002.8).