Trend Visualization of Emotional Judgments on Materials in Contact Using Distribution Map of Japanese Onomatopoeic Words

Abstract

Although human beings are capable of discerning a variety of textures through the sense of touch, there is as yet no consensus as to how best to classify those textures. To resolve this problem, we proposed a novel method of categorizing tactile textures using onomatopoeic words in Japanese. Based on the impressions they evoke, onomatopoeic words pertaining to tactile sensations are distributed on a two-dimensional space, making it possible to visualize how different tactile sensations are related to one another. Combining the results obtained with the subjects' evaluations of the materials touched in terms of how pleasant or unpleasant they find those materials, this paper attempts to visualize on a two-dimensional space the relationship between the pleasantness/unpleasantness associated with the materials and the tactile sensations that they evoke.