"Design thinking" attracts attention among various fields, and the tool development and the education regarding design thinking are carried out in various places. Their effectiveness, however, is evaluated only by subjective way (e.g. interview and questionnaire), and the way to analyze and evaluate it objectively is needed. This study aims to clarify the prefrontal cortex (PFC) role in design activities using a NIRS device. The experiment measures the brain activation amount between the two sketch tasks: reminding the typical shape and generating new idea of the design object. The Mann-Whitney test shows the right/left dorsolateral PFC and medial frontal cortex (MFC) in most participants were activated during the idea generation task than reminding one. Additionally, to catch the thoughts and emotion during the design tasks, the analysis focused on the design-idea-decision moment and the activated areas: MFC and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Although the result confirms few statistical differences, these values at the moment in MFC and OFC are larger than those at reminding task, at the rate of 73% and 65%, respectively.

This paper proposed a quantitative approach to comparing differences in the style characteristics of historical wood sculptures created by Ihachi and Yoshimitsu, two famous Edo-period carvers in the Kanto region of Japan. We remeshed 3D-scanning models of the sculptures to low-polygon models with the same number of polygons in order to quantitatively compare the models in a topological analysis, and defined the facet normals for each polygon mesh. We then plotted the facet normals of the low-polygon models to a unit sphere and plotted the density of the endpoints of the facet normals on the unit sphere in the spectrum. Several small areas with a very high density of endpoints could be observed on the Ihachi sphere, whereas, for Yoshimitsu, endpoint density appeared to be lower and less concentrated. Thus, it was determined that the surfaces of Ihachi's sculptures tend to orient to several specific directions, while the surfaces of Yoshimitsu's sculptures orient to various directions equally.

Museum exhibitions and events have diversified in the 21^st century to include interactive exhibits like hands-on activities and multi-touch tabletops. Science museums and centers, as informal learning institutions, are now focused on how best to cultivate the scientific knowledge of visitors through science communication activities, as well as provide the opportunity to experience artistic multisensory activities. The aim of this paper is to provide several case studies showing how a greater understanding and interest in science can be developed through practical science communication in a science museum context, particularly to an audience with children. Two case studies are presented in this paper showing how multisensory activities can be used as part of an introduction to cell biology phenomena: the first case study using food, and the second case study using 3D models. These case studies evince the efficacy of using real-world objects that can connect science to life.

Smell has unique relationships with emotions and memories. However, compared with its audiovisual counterparts, the personal olfactory display device is still not prevalent. If it can be fully used and become prevalent, it may reduce its environmental impact and contribute to a less stressful society. Based on this, the study chose to examine and compare four different representative olfactory display devices to investigate how to make such devices more habit-forming. As revealed, the potential of scents to bring the variable rewards should be fulfilled by avoiding the scents' inappropriate expressions and guarantee the perceived utility. Concretely, if the smell serves to augment particular contents, the rules of the correspondence between scent and content should be determined, and the pre-set scents should be configured in advance. If the smell leads the product experience, it should provide multiple optional scents, be portable, and keep the scent experience personal.

Although the general scope of design researches has shifted continuously after World War II, vigorous science and technology studies (STS) in association with technological controversies and scientific myths have expanded the vision of design studies and design history since the late 1990s. This paper firstly presents the beginning of design research conducted in the field of STS early on with a review of the related publications provided. After that, how the concept of STS is related to design studies and design history is further and well clarified respectively through a review of the related literature. Also, some important issues are raised and discussed thoroughly as well. Finally, this paper argues that adopting the STS perspective allows design researches to enlighten their negligence, and intensify the connection between design and society, thus bringing more imagination and possibilities for design practices.

The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze the architectural styles of the Historical Center of Macau. This investigation found that architectural styles in the Historical Center of Macau embody colonial architectural forms and retain the earliest material culture that Europe left behind in Asian regions. The findings of this study are as follows: (1) With the principles of semiotics, the research can explain that due to the Portuguese colonial culture, the architectural style of the Historical Center of Macau presents the mixed phenomenon between Chinese and Western cultures. (2) Western architectural styles in the Historical Center of Macau are vibrant in form; influences coming from Baroque, Neoclassical, Renaissance, and Islamic architectural styles, among others, can be observed. Among them, Baroque and Neoclassicism are the main styles. (3) Chinese architectural decorations principally inspired by Lingnan culture are particular to the use of decorative plant emblazonments, combined with animal, character, and geometric designs as well as text plaques. Both Western and Chinese architectural styles employ the rhetoric of signs through metaphors and homophonic transferences of meaning.

This study focused on identifying gestures suitable for the operational control of future flexible devices without considering any specific function. A prototype of a flexible device was fabricated with the help of nano-particle conductive ink. Twenty-seven gestures that were feasible with the device were chosen. A survey as part of the study was conducted, which included (a) objective data (Commonality), namely, pressures heat map graphics and positions of hand posture and (b) subjective data (Usability), namely, questionnaire of NASA-TLX, and preference of gestures, followed by feedback from the conducted interviews during a survey. Cluster analysis was used to divide the gestures into groups. According to the results of the conducted survey, the main reason for the consistency of the pressure distribution depends upon the user's understanding of the amount and the location of the bend due to the gesture on the device called properties of the gestures. Therefore, the pressure distribution was found to be more consistent with the gestures when the user had a clear understanding of the properties of the gesture. The overall score of bend forward gestures was found to be higher than that of bend backward gestures. Finally, the recommended groups are decided based on this study.

Product design usually utilizes different elements to attract consumers' attention. However, the application of "opposite" features to stimulate consumers' opposite-emotions in experience can highlight the product and amaze consumers more effectively. Therefore, this study (1) utilized the diachronic opposition emotion events to carry out the proximity matrix data, then (2) clusters the data to obtain an events relationship dendrogram, finally (3) obtains the framework from the interpretation of the dendrogram. According to design techniques extracted from the structural framework of diachronic opposite emotions, there are (1) two emotional stimulation points could choose from, four effects can be created, and eight skills can be applied to the product innovation for designers, and (2) in the product user experience, the generated opposite emotions, thereby, create a sense of innovation, enhancing consumers' preference to the product, which can further influence their purchase decisions and brand loyalty.

Simplified 3-D models of the handprints of the nine Kuhon-butsu statues in Tokyo's Joshin Temple were used to investigate the relationship between model features and the visual impressions of the Buddha statues as reported by a sample of 33 observers. Objective factors such as colour and texture were removed from the models. The handprint features were characterized by contour curve drawing in the style of the Amitabha Buddha sculptures. An impression evaluation was conducted for each of the 3-D models to explore the feelings they conveyed to the observers. The impressions were found to be largely consistent with the of the handprints described in Buddhist classics (such as meditation, teaching, welcoming and so on), although a few inconsistencies were observed. The static 3-D handprints thus appear to evoke psychological responses similar to those experienced by people in ancient times based on cultural design and visual communication.

The purposes of this study were to explore the information needs of the passengers according to the stages of traveling and places at airports and to propose a model for the information system development at airports in the future in Thailand. The participants were passengers using Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Muang Airport and experts who were in charge of the information systems at these two airports. In this study, interviews and an online questionnaire were employed. The results showed that the passengers needed real-time information (e.g., urgent notifications or flight delay) and advance notifications (e.g., traffic condition, check-in location, and congestion of users). This research also proposed the model for the development of information systems at airports in the future. The uniqueness of this model was including an information hub that would make all information sent by all stakeholders be connected, updated as real-time information, sent as advance notifications, and sent to each information channel and each passenger with appropriate time and places.

As a method of makeup, Japanese women prefer similar colors to their skin. This study aims to clarify this statement, using the perceptual illusion of makeup, and to establish whether the statement is biased by women's exposure to the method. A preliminary survey showed that only the Japanese female participants were aware of the similar-color method, and preferred similar colors to their complexions. The primary experiment tested the evaluation, by Japanese and Chinese in their 20s, male and female participants, of a yellowish face, with various shades of lipstick, as "beautiful," "natural," a "ruddy complexion" or "acceptable." All participant groups agreed that orange to red-pink lipsticks, result in a ruddy complexion. These colors were appreciated, by Japanese and Chinese men and Chinese women, as beautiful, natural and acceptable. However, Japanese women rated orangish lipstick the highest, in these three measures. Therefore, the judgement of makeup is a behavior that is determined and learned, based on past experience.

This study significantly contributes to gamification applied to sustainable consumption by examining it from the seller's perspective based on C2B (consumer selling to business) experience, as the seller's role in facilitating circularity is often overlooked. A field study was conducted to determine the utility of Black and White hat gamification in the Octalysis framework and their impact on user emotions and user experience in the second-hand reselling experience. We found that the users gave good feedback to the group of Black hat gamification's hedonic quality (Stimulation, Novelty) of user experience. Users were delighted to accept the influence of Black hat gamification even if they felt negative emotions in the process, and it promoted selling behavior simultaneously. Conversely, the White hat gamification group had good feedback on the pragmatic quality (Perspicuity, Efficiency and Dependability) of user experience. The emotion created in the White hat gamification group was comfortable, but it may lead to behavior stagnation. As an explorative study, this work may provide useful insights into how gamification could motivate seller behavior in todays' sustainable consumption.