Abstract
Every material has a unique combination of sensory features. For example, metal is cold, hard, and heavy. We define "Void materials" as unrealized materials involving unexperienced combinations of sensory features, such as "cold and soft". There is a need to get a kansei assessment of Void materials before developing them. We proposed a methodology to search Void materials in a multi-dimensional space of the sensory features using the combination of sensory features in existing materials. To confirm the existence of Void materials, we virtually synthesized unrealized combinations of vision, touch, and weight using a half-mirror apparatus that we developed in our previous study. We asked participants to answer material cognitions of synthesized samples that have combinations of aluminum and PMMA in the shape of cylinder. From the experiment, the participants frequently found Void materials in the combinations involving acryl-like features in touch and metal-like features in appearance or weight. On top of that, the participants preferred a synthesized material involving high transparency, high thermal conductivity and heavy weight as characters. These results suggest that the proposed method can compose favorable Void materials by combinations of existing materials.
