Investigation into Hand Movements to Assess Material Properties of Wood

Abstract

Tactile perception is an important sensation for assessing the comfortability of wood. In this study, we applied a 3D real-time motion measurement system and a body pressure distribution system to investigate the different hand movements that subjects tended to use when assessing four material properties of wood. The results showed that subjects traced the square wood specimen with a rectangular motion to evaluate “cool/warm” and “hard/soft”. However, when subjects evaluated “cool/warm,” their hands stayed on one spot for a short period to check the transfer of heat, whereas when subjects evaluated “hard/soft,” their hands moved continuously to check the material hardness. When subjects evaluated “rough/smooth” and “dry/moist,” they touched the surface of the wood continuously. When evaluating “rough/smooth,”, they used a slight rubbing movement between the surface of the wood and the skin, in contrast with the vertical hand movements used by subjects to check moisture level when evaluating “dry/moist.”