Art and entertainment will evoke a wide range of ever-changing emotions in the user. To record subjective emotions, scoring methods using emotional adjectives are often used. However, it is hard to answer intuitively because it requires users to consciously refer to their internal states on each scale. Therefore, we focused on onomatopoeia, and facial and bodily expressions (i.e., embodied emotional expressions), which are intuitive expressions based on bodily sensations. We conducted an online survey on what kind of expressions people use to express their feelings in various situations and constructed a two-dimensional map showing the relationships among them. The temporal changes in emotion can be visualized on the map by selecting the expression most closely matches the user’s current feelings.

In sound art, an art style that uses sound, the device that generates sound is the core of the work and one of the elements in which the artist’s originality is most pronounced. There is also sound art in which sound is generated and received by touching the work itself. This paper calls sound art, in which tactile sensation is one of the elements of the work experience, “Hapsonic art” and pursues its possibilities as an art style. First, this paper discusses the characteristics of hapsonic art from the perspectives of somatosensory aspects, properties of tactile objects, and activeness of appreciation. Next, while citing other art styles related to hapsonic art, such as musical instruments/musical tools, art for disabilities, kinetic art, and interactive art, this paper organizes similarities and differences from hapsonic art. In addition, while citing other academic research areas related to hapsonic art, this paper makes a proposal for the future development of hapsonic art from the perspectives of somatosensory aspects, materiality, kinetic nature, and activeness/interaction as the characteristics of hapsonic art.

We have developed a novel virtual reality (VR) ride system consisting of a head-mounted display (HMD), an electric wheelchair and an electric wheeled ramp to amplify the perception of virtual ascent and descent. To provide multiple ascents and descents experience using the system, this paper investigates two methods for connecting ascent and descent experience, which present sensations of ascent to translation and translation to descent. With a method where the VR ride moves forward on a trapezoidalshaped electric wheeled ramp, it needs the same number of ramps as the number of ascents and descents. On the other hand, with a method where the VR ride moves backward on the ramp, it is possible to present multiple ascents and descents experience by moving the VR ride forward and backward between the two ramps. To explore the hypothesis that the two methods can present the same level of ascending and descending sensation, we conducted psychological experiments analyzing and comparing the human sensitivity to the bending gains that describe the discrepancy between the bending of curved slopes in real and virtual space. As a result, there was no sufficient difference between the perceived thresholds of the two methods. Thus, we concluded that the method where the VR ride moves backward on the electric wheeled ramp is effective for providing multiple ascents and descents experience.

In viewing contents that do not require user’s active involvement, such as sports games and music concerts, the video and audio are often viewed from third-person view instead of a first-person view. However, this type of viewing experience explicitly divides the viewer and player into the viewer and the viewed. Therefore, the authors have developed a new type of experience that generates a different type of empathy: “Becoming-player sports viewing,” in which the player’s movements can be perceived as viewers’. This experience uses a third-person video, but also uses the viewer’s own movements and tactile vibrations presented to multiple bodily parts, allowing the viewer to feel a sense of becoming a player in the video. In this paper, we report on the actual implementation of “Becoming-player sports viewing,” and experiments that demonstrate the principle of it.

Recently, there has been a rapid increase in the use of ICT devices in artworks exhibited in museums and galleries. There are a wide range of applications such as voice guidance, dedicated smartphone applications, and interactive contents using sensor devices. On the other hand, due to the scarcity and safety of the exhibited materials, it is not always possible to use ICT devices that can directly interact with the exhibited materials, and museums nowadays do not have enough money to spend on setup. Therefore, in this study, we conducted an exhibition experiment using Leap Motion, a sensor device, with a small amount of equipment and using the existing exhibition facilities that the museum has.

In projection mapping on a three-dimensional object with a free-form curved surface, it is necessary to perform geometric correction of the projected video image pixel by pixel. The adjustment of the video image, including such correction, is extremely complicated and time-consuming, and it is a major burden on the creator. We have developed an application that can set up projection mapping in a short time with almost only mouse operations by integrating these series of tasks. This application enables accurate mapping of three-dimensional objects with free-form surfaces using an inexpensive projector and camera, without the use of special equipment. It can also be used in conjunction with commercially available video content creation applications.

This research proposes a mirror work in which reflected image changes by inducing the viewer to move their body, even though the work itself and the entity that generates the image are stationary. The change in reflected image is triggered by the position of the viewer, which encourages the viewer to continuously move their body. This is intended to create an active and sustained viewing experience. The questionnaire conducted at the time of the exhibition confirmed the descriptions of the viewing of the artworks that involved physical movement during viewing. In addition, the behavioral observation of the viewers confirmed that they moved their bodies several times. This indicates that this proposal has achieved its goal of promoting an active and sustained viewing experience.

We experimentally studied the influence of sex and gender, that is, the participant’s sex, gender of the participant’s avatar, and gender of the opponent’s avatar, on personal space in virtual reality. In more than half of the cases, significant differences were observed in the influence of the gender of the opponent’s avatar. In addition, females were more influenced by the gender of the opponent’s avatar than males, and males were less likely to be influenced by the gender of the opponent’s avatar when using a female avatar.