Nov 21, 2025

Understanding the Developmental Process of the Human Mind and Undertaking Research to Implement Individually Optimized Educational Support in the Field

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) reported that in the National Academic Achievement Test conducted in April 2025 for third-grade junior high school students, the correct rate for the essay-style questions in Japanese language, which required students to express their own thoughts in writing, was just 25.6% on average. Some questions had non-response rates of nearly 30%. To understand the essence of a question and to express one's thoughts requires language skills, which are acquired through linguistic inputs from parents, teachers, and others during infancy and early childhood. Tessei Kobayashi, a senior distinguished researcher at NTT Communication Science Laboratories, has conducted research on child language development. During his research, he proposed and supervised individually optimized picture books, which contribute to educational support for infants and young children. We spoke with him about his thoughts on applying his research findings on "the development of the human mind" as a support tool in the field of child education.

Nov 21, 2025

Highly Efficient, Low-cost Optical Communications through Optimal Communication Path Design Technology

The Internet services we take for granted every day are supported by optical communication technology, which enables long-distance, high-capacity communications, and many pieces of equipment, including optical fiber cables and optical transceivers. However, many challenges remain, such as the increasing complexity of optical network design as optical communication technology evolves and the need to address the cost savings associated with the ever-increasing amount of communication equipment. Even under these circumstances, using design technology for configuring optimal communication paths will make it possible to support more communication traffic economically even with existing communication equipment and facilities. We spoke with Takafumi Tanaka, a distinguished researcher at NTT Network Innovation Laboratories and a leader in optimal communication path design technology.