When creating a new product design, a designer chooses design solutions from concepts that combine different impression words. However, there could be more than one optimal design solution. Therefore, a reverse inference system that returns all optimal design solutions is necessary. The purpose of this study is twofold: First, using the eyeglass design as a case study, we clarify the capability to search for diverse design solutions using deep generative models, a solution method for reverse inference. Second, we compare differences in the explored design solutions between two deep generative models, CVAE and JMVAE. The two models generated diverse eyeglass frame designs and yielded results having different characteristics in the search range.

In recent years, due to the spread of the new coronavirus, it has become common to wear masks in daily life. As a result, makeup around the eyes and eyebrows has become one of the most important aspects of the facial impression one gives to others. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between the proportions of women’s eyes and eyebrows after wearing makeup and their impressions of three items: gender, age, and gorgeousness, using a neural network. First, the proportions were measured from the 2,014 facial images collected, and a neural network was trained using the three impression items of a facial images evaluated by beauty experts as supervised signals. Next, we analyzed the impact of each proportion on the three impression items. Finally, an experiment was conducted with the same experts to verify whether analysis results were adequate. The results revealed how the proportions of the eyes and eyebrows affect the impression one gives to others.

We have been developing a cognitive assessment system based on an electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain-machine interface (BMI) that uses event-related potentials (ERPs) as a virtual “Mind Switch.” ERPs reflect temporal changes in attention and are also known as potential biomarkers for assessing cognitive function. We recorded EEG data from 10 healthy subjects who performed target-selection tasks based upon the visual discrimination of fingerspelling images with or without motor responses (key release). We found differential responses between target and non-target images, which were quantitatively evaluated by the decoding accuracy of the target. We also found that ERPs were enhanced when accompanied by key releases, which might indicate that a more attentive state was involved. These results suggest that fingerspelling images are a feasible tool for cognitive assessment. Future studies should be conducted to demonstrate the applicability of our system in preventing frailty in older people.

The design for emergency medical personal uniforms should include not only “aesthetics and solidarity” required as uniforms, but also “functionality” necessary for emergency operations. Questionnaires and motion analysis were conducted to understand the current situation and identify problems with the current emergency medical services uniform (pants) to emergency medical services personnel and analysis of their movements during drills. With introduction of materials and textile structures that can follow dynamic motions (e.g., stretch), new designs for emergency medical personal uniforms and its effectiveness by clothing pressure measurement have been investigated. The results showed (1) A larger clothing pressure acts in the crouching exercise than that in the one-leg-raising exercise, (2) The stretchable fabric reduced overall clothing pressure on the lower limbs of the human body during both the one-leg-raising and crouching exercises, (3) The knee tack and the lumbar yoke reduced clothing pressure on the lower limbs of the human body locally.

The present study indicates a mathematical model regarding the focus theory of normative conduct and estimation methods of parameters related to the degree of decision-makers’ attention by expanding the contingent focus model using web questionnaire data concerning normative decision making under COVID-19 pandemic. We have also shown examples of estimation methods. We made two different assumptions about the parameters and estimated three types of parameters for each assumption; 1) attention degree towards the injunctive norm, 2) relative attention degree on the corresponding level of the factor, 3) a psychological parameter specific to an experimental manipulation. Finally, we discussed the interpretation of parameters and relationships among parameters that were estimated based on two different assumptions.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of flavored mouthwash on peripheral and cardiac autonomic nervous system activity. In a within-subject experimental design, 10 male and 10 female healthy adults went through two types of mouthwashes, one was with citrus mint flavor and another was with spice mint flavor, right after performing a 20-minute calculation task given as a cognitive stressor. Along with subjective evaluation, skin conductance and electrocardiogram was recorded throughout the experiment. Although there was no difference in the subjective stress levels between the two conditions, the level of skin conductance decreased more remarkably and significantly during the recovery period when the participants used citrus mint mouthwash. The findings suggest that a particular flavored mouthwash may provide physiological effect on user regardless of its subjective sensation and the citrus mint type mouthwash might be better suited for use in need of a relaxation.

In this study, we compared and evaluated whether different facial expressions on the package resulted in different evaluations of the confectionery by presenting participants in the experiment with different facial expressions on a fictitious package and conducting a pairwise evaluation. In the result, it revealed differences in the evaluation of “visual taste” and “familiarity” depending on differences in facial expression, although the effects of the combination and individual differences in preference were also observed. As for the influence of each part of the face, it was found that the mouth part influenced “familiarity,” while the eye part had a significant influence on the “visual taste” evaluation. This suggests that having a face on the confectionery package with an appropriate facial expression for the product itself will help people feel more comfortable with the product and understand information such as the type and strength of the product’s flavor.

Nigirikawa is a leather tape attached to Japanese bow in Kyudo. It assists the “Teuchi” (the method of gripping bow), which is to twist the bow counterclockwise to make the arrow fly straight. Kyudo players select the materials of the Nigirikawa for ease of use from subjective impression. The objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of grip strength in drawing the bow as an objective evaluation index. We attached four pressure sensors to the grip of the bow to measure the pressure during shooting and compared the four types of Nigirikawa (deer, shark, cow, and sheep). The results showed that the differences of gripping force depending on the ease of use of the Nigirikawa in two movements of “Daisan” and “Kai”. Therefore, we concluded that gripping force is effective as an objective evaluation index of Nigirikawa.