Abstract
The purpose of this study was to understand relationship between foot temperature and comfort to design thermally comfortable shoes. Whole-body and foot temperatures, thermal sensation and comfort were measured, and also human thermal load was calculated under various walking speeds. The experiment was done under the thermoneutral zone and the unified clothing insulation. Through the experiment, whole-body and foot temperatures, thermal sensation and comfort changes were occured by mainly metabolism. As a result, whole-body temperature didn't substantially increase. However, foot temperature increased 2 to 3 degrees during the exercise period. Whole-body sensation had a correlation with foot thermal sensation. This relationship was due to thermoregulatory function. Foot temperature elevation also had a strong relationship with whole-body thermal sensation and comfort. Therefore, considering the thermolytic function of foot is important for designing thermal comfortable shoes.
