Study on braiding skills by comparing between expert and non-experts with eye’s movement measurement

Abstract

A braiding rope is the Japanese traditional rope that a quality and beauty of them have depended on the skill and experience of a braider. In this research, the skill of an expert and two non-experts who practice the braiding every day and every week, respectively were measured and compared through the eye’s movement measurement and observed the braiding rope quality. The measurement was carried out every month for three times. It was found that the expert showed the constant of eye’s focus at the center of a marudai plate and revealed a complete pattern of braiding rope. For two non-experts, their eye’s movement wobbled around the marudai plate for all trials. Furthermore, expert’s skill was investigated focusing on how to keep location of braid rope at the center of marudai plate during braiding process. We clarified the way how the strands were moved above the marudai plate to make good braid rope.