Abstract
Various kinds of tableware for the elderly requiring nursing care have been developed in recent super aging society in order to support their eating. Accordingly, usability assessment of such tableware has been done intensively up to now. As one of the usability factors, we focused on conformity between the edge of the inside of plate and spoon naturally affecting scooping motion. Its empirical analysis, however, has yet to be done sufficiently. In our previous study, we developed an effective experimental protocol using a combination of a spoon and a plate with an edge of its inside which is conformed well to the edge of the spoon. Using this protocol, we conducted experiments employing ten elderly subjects and a motion capture system in order to clarify the effects of the conformity on eating efficiency. Empirical results demonstrated that the conformity decreased the total number of scooping, the number of collecting and duration of the collecting phase as well as total time, strongly suggesting its significance in eating efficiency.
