Seeing is believing. is a proverb that literally means that hearing an explanation a hundred times is not as good as seeing it once. The English proverb "Seeing is believing. The act of "seeing" not only allows us to visually obtain a variety of information, but it also involves a great deal of persuasive power. Therefore, visualization of various phenomena is a very effective means to elucidate them and has been utilized in many research fields. For example, in the field of tribology, oil film thickness measurement using optical interferometry is one of the typical visualization techniques, which is applied to evaluate not only oil film behavior but also contact conditions.

Tribology plays an important role in understanding and optimizing the performance, durability, and efficiency of mechanical systems and components, from small-scale equipment to large-scale industrial machinery. In short, tribology investigates the complex interactions between materials under a variety of conditions to minimize friction and wear. However, tribology deals with severe contact conditions, such as thin film thickness (on the order of nm) and high pressure (on the order of GPa), and thus requires particularly sophisticated visualization techniques*. We also believe that visualization of actual complex phenomena not only verifies the accuracy of the theoretical equations we are trying to derive, but also provides an opportunity for new discoveries and hints for new theory construction.

* NSK developed the "Electrical Impedance Method" to visualize lubrication conditions in 2018 under the guidance of Professor Ken Nakano of Yokohama National University.