"Robotics, Virtual and Augmented Reality, and Security" Working Group

At ROLES, we actively utilize the resources of the University of Tokyo and RCAST to explore the impact of emerging technologies on security through an interdisciplinary approach that bridges the sciences and the humanities.

Members

IKEUCHI, Satoshi

Founding Chair of ROLES and Professor of Religion and Global Security of RCAST of the University of Tokyo

Satoshi Ikeuchi is Professor of the Division of Religion and Global Security at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) of the University of Tokyo. He is the founding head of the RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES).

For the year 2022-2023, he was Senior Visiting Scholar in Residence at the Moshe Dayan Center (MDC) for Middle Eastern and African Studies of Tel Aviv University. He was also affiliated with the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) as a Senior Visiting Fellow on July 2023.

He is a scholar on Islamic political thought and the Middle East politics. As a leading public intellectual in Japan, he has been vigorously publishing on the Middle East and Islamic affairs.

His first publication based on his doctoral studies, Gendai Arabu-no Shakai Shiso: Shumatsuron-to Isramu-shugi (Contemporary Arab Social Thought: Eschatology and Islamism), was published in 2002 and earned Osaragi Jiro Prize for Critical Works. He also earned Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities in 2009 for his book Islamu Sekai-no Ronjikata (Methods of Discussing Islam).

His book on the Islamic State Isulamu Koku no Shogeki (The Impact of the Islamic State) published in January 2015 was a nation-wide best seller in Japan and awarded Mainichi Publishing Cultural Prize. His recent publication includes Saikusu Piko Kyotei: Hyakunen no Jubaku (Sykes-Picot Agreement: One Hundred Years of Obsession) in 2016 and Shiiaha to Sunniha (Shite and Sunnite) in 2018 both published from Shinchosha. He is the recipient of the 12th Nakasone Yasuhiro Prize in 2016 for his academic works and social engagements.

His collection of literary essays and book reviews Shomotsu not Unmei (The Fate of Books) published in 2006 and earned Mainichi Book Review Award for the year.

He was a visiting professor at the Alexandria University 2007-2008, Japan Scholar chair visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in 2009 and Visiting Fellow at the Clare Hall, University of Cambridge in 2010. 

He specializes in Middle East politics and Arab-Islamic Thought, particularly on global Jihadism and its implications for international security.

INAMI, Masahiko

Professor at RCAST of the University of Tokyo
Masahiko Inami is Professor of Information and Somatics at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) of the University of Tokyo. He organized and directed the JIZAI Body project in ERATO that is funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). Dr. Inami was appointed as professor at the Department of Information Physics and Computing, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology of the University of Tokyo in 2015, after working at the University of Electro-Communications and Keio University 2008-2015. Dr. Inami took up his current position as professor at the RCAST of the University of Tokyo in 2016. 

His interests include  body editing technology called "JIZAI", the Augmented Human, and entertainment engineering. He has received several awards, including TIME Magazine’s “Coolest Invention of the Year” award and the Young Scientist Award from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT). 

He is also the co-representative of the Superhuman Sports Society, a director of the Information Processing Society of Japan, a director of the Virtual Reality Society of Japan, and a member of the Science Council of Japan. His latest book is called “Theory of JIZAI Body" (Springer, 2024).

He is concurrently teaching as Professor at Ochanomizu University since 2023 and has been Guest Professor at the Graduate School of Media Design of Keio University since 2015. 

He is a senior associate member of the ROLES project in Research Group on Advanced Science/Technology and Security."

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