The sensory tests by an elderly person and a young person were carried out by method of paired comparisons using coated oak wood (quarter-sawn grain) without seeing the specimens. The sensory tests were accompanied by measurements of the properties of the palm of the hand, the roughness of the specimen surface and the temperature change at the interface. The elderly person made more definite judgments regarding the sensory warmth and sliding than the young person, and the definition of judgment is the contrary in the sensory unevenness. There was no difference in judgment of the sensory dampness between the elderly person and the young person. The properties of the palm of the hand were significantly different between the elderly person and the young person. These properties were closely related to the judgment of tactile sensation. The temperature change at the interface had a close relation to the sensory warmth, and the roughness of the specimen surface related closely to the sensory warmth, sliding and unevenness. The comfortable surface differed between the elderly person and the young person. The elderly person made more definite judgments regarding comfortability than the young person. The multiple linear regression analysis showed that the comfortability could be predicted by the sensory sliding and dampness in elderly person, and by the sensory dampness in young person.
