Hardwood are assumed to influence visual-tactile perception due to various components, such as wood vessels. It is hypothesized that there is difference of impression between wood working experts and non-experts when evaluating hardwood. We prepared three-types of hardwood samples with different vessel depths and investigated the difference of impression between experts and non-experts by using evaluation tests and measuring hand movements. As results of the evaluation tests, non-experts were influenced by the contrast due to difference in vessel depths and there was difference of impression between visual and tactile conditions. However, experts were less affected by the contrast and did not take wood vessels into consideration in their evaluation. As results of hand movements when assessing wood samples, the movements of experts were constant and stable, but those of non-experts were not. Therefore, it is considered that the impression of wood containing vessels are different between experts and non-experts.

We conducted an exploratory study focusing on the “refreshing” of yogurt and examined the relationship between emotional reactions and “Kansei” (the sensory impressions of yogurt). Participants rated their emotional reactions and Kansei after eating food items considered to be refreshing (plain yogurt, sparkling water, coffee and grapefruit). The results indicated that eating yogurt increased pleasantness without increasing arousal, suggesting that it induced a calm, gentle and pleasant emotional state. Factor analysis of the emotion scores of these food items revealed four factors: “happiness,” “activity,” “tenderness,” and “healthiness” (a feeling of good health). Refreshing of yogurt was found to be related to the impression of coolness, natural aroma and sourness. Furthermore, it was suggested that refreshing of yogurt was associated with emotions such as “happiness” and “healthiness.”

This study investigated the psychological impact of nostalgia trigged by confectionery consumption. Participants (N = 149, ages 22-79) were instructed to eat caramels and thereafter respond to a scale on moods, the timing of nostalgic evocation, autobiographical-cultural memory, the nostalgic function, questions about remembrance, and free-answer questions. The results showed that eating the test food evoked both autobiographical and cultural memory, suggesting the possibility of using the food as a new trigger to evoke nostalgia. Furthermore, it was shown that nostalgic evocation enhances social ties, temporal continuity of the self, meaning of life, and other psychological functions, as well as facilitates seeing value in traditional products, clarifying that these functions contribute to higher enjoyment and can have various positive effects. It was suggested that evoking nostalgia with the eating of test food can have psychological effects that lead to well-being.

In this study, we measured kitchen workers’ behavior and conducted a questionnaire survey to determine the impact of improving the kitchen environment on the health and productivity of kitchen workers. Correlation analysis suggested that a low rate of collision danger time correlates with a perception of a good kitchen environment, less likely to have a near-miss, and higher work engagement. Cluster analysis confirmed that the two types of workers could be classified into two types with low average speed and long average bending time, bending frequency, and collision risk time and those without, and that the trends in the distribution of work dysfunction and work motivation scores for these two types were different. Visualization of kitchen workers’ bending time and collision hazard time in flow line measurement may reveal current issues in kitchen planning and provide clues for improvement.

This study examines the factors that influence audience impressions of romantic movies. The dataset includes online-sourced information such as screening time, actors’ award history, and audience ratings of the movies. Additionally, dialogues from the films were transcribed during watching. Correspondence analysis was used to summarize audience impressions of the movies. Using the coordinates from this analysis as the dependent variable, multiple regression analysis was conducted with screening time, actors’ award history, and dialogue information as independent variables. The results suggest that the protagonist’s age and the amount of dialogue in the first act are significant factors influencing audience impressions.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate manga radial line effects on rated impressions of food drawings. For the first, we used adjective pairs to assess differences among four manga background effects (radial lines, soap bubbles, black gradients, and no background) on impression ratings of food drawings. Results demonstrated that food drawings with radial lines were perceived as larger and more voluminous than food drawings with other manga background effects. In addition, food drawings with soap bubbles elicited more positive impressions (e.g., softness and warmth) compared to food drawings with other manga background effects. By contrast, food drawings with black gradients elicited more negative impressions (e.g., hardness and coldness). For the second experiment, we used the same pairs of adjectives to assess radial line density effects on impression ratings of the food drawings. Results demonstrated that the food drawings’ size and quantity impressions improved for drawings with added radial lines showing greater density. Findings also suggest that higher radial line density is associated with impressions of a food drawing’s specialness, fanciness, and elaborate arrangement. The manga radial line effects observed in this study concur with findings from speed line studies, suggesting that this phenomenon might be interpreted through motion perception.

An online experiment using slideshow-style stimulus videos was conducted with adults in three metropolitan areas (n = 400) to explore the mental processes that promote walking. Results from covariance structure analysis showed that walking frequency can influence the activation of mental representations of the neighborhood environment. It was also shown that the mental processes that facilitate walking may be processes arising from the activation of these mental representations that influence intrinsic motivation and positive emotions. These mental processes were associated with place attachment, suggesting that place attachment may also influence walking frequency. Multi-group covariance structure analyses revealed that age and place of residence influenced this mental process, with this mental process being more pronounced in early adult residents and those living in peri-urban areas.

While there have been numerous studies on human tactile perception, research specifically focusing on tactile stimulation underwater remains relatively scarce. In this study, we aimed to investigate the tactile sensation experienced underwater and evaluate the perception of water vibrations using onomatopoeic words. We visualized the distribution of water vibration sensations on a two-dimensional map. Furthermore, we tried to clarify the relationship between the intensity and frequency of these sensations by combining the onomatopoeic words with subjective evaluations of pleasantness or unpleasantness.

In recent years, mindfulness has been gaining attention in the business world as a way to improve concentration and reduce stress. Meditation is a well-known method of practicing mindfulness. On the other hand, there is also a method called “mindfulness-in-action,” in which mindfulness is practiced while moving the body. In this study, we considered ikebana, a traditional Japanese culture, as a method of mindfulness-in-action. Ikebana requires flower materials, vases, and other tools, and is labor-intensive as a mindfulness practice. Therefore, the purpose of this experiment was to clarify the changes in mind and body caused by watching videos of ikebana practice. In the experiment, the effect of stress reduction was tested using EDA. The results revealed that viewing ikebana videos and photos of ikebana had a stress reduction effect. Furthermore, ikebana videos were found to have a greater stress reduction effect than ikebana photos.

When cooking, the color and the appearance of meat is important to judge whether meat is cooked or not to eat safely. However, the color and the appearance of objects depends on the spectral distribution of light. Therefore, in this study, we measured surface colors of cooked meats under some lights with different spectral distributions and conducted an experiment to clarify the suitable lighting conditions for cooking beef, chicken and pork ground meats. As a result, judgments of the degree of cooking depend on not only the correlated color temperatures but also spectral distribution of lighting and the judgement was easier under comparatively high correlated color temperature conditions. In conclusion, for suitable lighting for cooking meat, it is necessary to consider the spectral distributions in addition to the correlated color temperature of the illumination.

Lips significantly affect the perception of an individual’s appearance and age. With recent shifts in social focus, lips have garnered increased attention. However, the morphological factors contributing to lip attractiveness and the underlying biological factors remain unclear. Therefore, this study explored the factors associated with the color and shape of lips. Furthermore, we assessed how each factor influences lip attractiveness through sensory evaluation and investigated the biological factors related to this. Our findings suggest that lip attractiveness is correlated with color, moisture, volume, and wrinkles, and that these traits vary according to gender. Men focus on color and moisture, while women focus on color, moisture and volume. Color is influenced by blood flow and velocity to the lips, and hemoglobin oxygen saturation; moisture is linked with lip surface pH; volume correlates with the structure of the dermal papilla; and wrinkles are associated with lip surface temperature.

This research is a brand value study in the watch industry. It aims to clarify the differences in the brand value factors that make up list and secondary market prices. It has also examined the brand value factors that lead to high secondary market prices. List prices were relevant to the savoir-faire (craftsmanship) in the model and the brand’s precious metal ratio, while secondary market prices were relevant to the brand’s complication ratio, the number of years since the model was discontinued, and the brand’s rarity. Watches traded at higher secondary market prices were either models of brands with high rarity or limited-edition models of brands with high complication ratios. In practice, the finding that increasing the number of watches with complications, which no one had previously thought necessary to improve the secondary market price leading to brand value, is important for watch brands.

At sports games, idol performances, and movie screenings, some audiences move their bodies by waving their arms toward athletes, idols, or movie characters. What does this physical movement do to the audience? In this study, we investigated whether body movements affect the audience’s impression of an animated character. Participants watched animated clips of boxing matches, and waved a light stick when one character was attacking, but not when the other character was attacking. There were two ways of waving it: either forward or backward. Before and after watching the animated clips, participants rated the characters on strength, likability and attractiveness. The results showed that the increase in strength ratings was higher when participants waved forward than waved backward or no waving. These results suggest that physical movements that involve physical proximity to a specific object or character, such as forward waving, positively influence participants’ impressions of characters, athletes, and idols.

This study investigated the relationship between interpersonal risk and personality traits on the psychological safety of nursing students during clinical practice in hospitals and welfare facilities. The personality characteristics of nursing students were psychometrically measured using the Big Five factors (Extroversion, Neuroticism, Openness to experience, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness). To explore the corelation between psychological safety and interpersonal relationship risk/personality traits, we created a hypothetical model, and verified and modified it using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). As a result, a significant path from “interpersonal risk” to “psychological safety” was obtained. In addition, a significant path from “Extraversion” to “Psychological Safety” was obtained for personality traits. A significant path from “Agreeableness” to “Interpersonal Risk”, and a significant trend from “Emotional Stability” to “Interpersonal Risk” were found.

The number of LIPs (laugh track insertion points) in representative sitcoms from the US and China was counted, and the difference in trends between the two countries was examined from both a quantitative and textual perspective using a chi-square test (significance level = 0.05). The major categories with significantly higher rates in Chinese sitcoms were “perception of superiority” and “change in framing,” and the minor categories were “stingy behavior,” “exaggeration,” “adding lies to lies or mistakes,” “strange proposals,” “successful strategies,” “violent acts,” “overinterpretation,” “display of disgust,” “mishearing homonyms or similar sounds,” “failure due to lack of understanding of one’s own culture or another,” “unexpected situations in relation to rules,” and “reversal or change of position.” In the textual analysis, a framework was used from superiority theory, which is considered useful in sitcom analysis, to examine the “perception of superiority” that was prominent in Chinese sitcoms.

Web browsing in virtual reality (VR) is largely limited to a flat window, despite VR’s potential for dynamic three-dimensional (3D) displays. To explore how depth affects VR Web design, we developed a VR Web browser that transforms HTML elements into 3D objects and arranges them within VR space. We conducted a user study (N = 17) comparing 10 layout patterns under two display conditions: flat- and 3D-display methods in which objects were positioned at varying depths. The results show that the 3D-display method requires more time for element selection compared to the flat-display method. Furthermore, placing an object in the foreground while positioning surrounding elements in the background affected selection patterns, indicating a potential approach for directing user attention in VR environments. These findings suggest that our 3D HTML placement method enhances content presence in VR space and could lead to new principles for VR Web design.

It is known that when observing a moving object, the object appears different from its stationary state. It may appear blurred or, conversely, it may appear clear. Since how it appears depends on the situation, it is difficult to design an appearance that takes into account how it appears when it is moving. The phenomenon in which objects are perceived to be sharpened by motion is called motion sharpening, and several explanatory models have been proposed. In this study, we developed a method to ensure the appearance of rotating figures based on one of these models. The proposed method uses digital image filtering to generate images that guarantee the appearance of rotating figures at a constant speed in a certain direction. We also verified how well our method predicts the appearance of rotating figures by using a figure based on an alphabetic symbol motif. The results show promising clues for building a method to manipulate the appearance of rotating objects.

Installation art exists in artistic expression that is closely related to the characteristics of a place or space. In this study, the effect of installation art utilizing AR technology on the space of Wakayama University Sakaedani Campus was verified through impression evaluation. Three patterns of AR installation were proposed for each of two areas on the university campus and analyzed by impression evaluation and multiple comparisons. The results showed that the “dynamic” and “attractive” items common to the two areas changed significantly before and after the installation, indicating that the installation improved the spatial experience for viewers. However, there were no significant differences in evaluation between patterns. This suggests that the unique visual expression of AR, which is not consistent in color and shading with the real space, brought about a change in the impression of the space.

In the automotive industry, vehicle sound significantly impacts perceived value, making it crucial to understand the link between subjective auditory perception and objective physical metrics. Defining these metrics enables both comfort improvement and standardization. This study examines warm-up noise from an accelerated warm-up system (AWS), which occurs in locations like home garages. If unpleasant, it can disturb both drivers and neighbors. To address this, we conducted psychoacoustic analysis and perceptual experiments to investigate the relationship between warm-up noise characteristics and annoyance. The results show that higher tonality and dissonance levels increase annoyance. Suppressing these factors effectively enhances comfort and improves perceived product value through better sound quality.

Chatbots powered by generative AI have the potential to replace many customer service jobs. While existing literature often focuses on objective performance metrics for chatbots, few research examines how chatbots could provide a more comfortable user experience. This study investigates an extension of insights from human responses to AI responses based on the SERVQUAL model, exploring how AI chatbot design can enhance consumer comfort and improve satisfaction during complaint handling. Using orthogonal arrays, we assessed seven factors in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Results showed that human agent significantly reduced consumer satisfaction compared to non-human agents (p = 0.011), especially among male, and younger consumers. These findings indicate that when AI performance is inadequate, human-like visuals create unrealistic expectations, leading to lower satisfaction, whereas non-human visuals help better manage user expectations. Tailoring chatbot visuals elements to consumer characteristics and contexts could enhance satisfaction.