Analysis of a Subjective Evaluation and Brain Activity during Handwork and Its Virtual Experience

Abstract

This study verifies the mental and physical effects of menial work and those of its implementation in virtual experience along with their relationship with the subjects' profiles. The subjects were requested to perform four tasks. We called the first task the “handmade task” and the second the “hand playing task.” As a virtual experience, we set the work to verify a video that was filmed while other people were performing the same tasks. Subjective evaluations were conducted via a questionnaire about impressions of the work. We performed an objective evaluation by measuring the change in the amount of oxyhaemoglobin visible on subjects' foreheads using an optical topography device. The subjective evaluation revealed that subjects performing a task himself/herself or through virtual experience had a significant impact, whereas subject attributes or the type of work did not. In contrast, the objective evaluation demonstrated that subject attributes are more influential than other factors.