Kawaii Engineering: Measurements, Evaluations, and Applications of Attractiveness

Description

“Kawaii” is a Japanese word that denotes “cute,” “lovable,” or “charming” although it does not have exactly the same meaning as those adjectives. This book proposes engineering methodologies for systematic measurement of the affective perception of kawaii, by using virtual reality and biological signals, and discusses the effectiveness of kawaii engineering for designing industrial products and services. Kawaii can draw sympathy from people and can embody a special kind of cute design, which reduces fear and makes dull information more acceptable and appealing. Following the introduction of the background of kawaii engineering in Chapter 1, Chapters 2 and 3 describe experiments on the systematic measurement and evaluation methods for kawaii products and affective evaluation experiments. Chapter 4 proposes a mathematical model to identify the physical attributes that determine kawaii in motion. Chapters 5 and 6 explain research that uses biological signals and eye-tracking. After a brief survey of psychological research on kawaii and cuteness in Chapter 7, Chapters 8 and 9 introduce the use of spoons designed to stimulate the appetite of the elderly and the practical implementation of an emotion-driven camera. Chapters 10–14 explain experimental research that examines kawaii perception of people from various cultural backgrounds. Kawaii Engineeringwill appeal to those who work on affective computing, product design, user experience design, virtual reality, and biological signals. Front Matter ....Pages i-x Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Kawaii Engineering (Michiko Ohkura)....Pages 3-12 Front Matter ....Pages 13-13 Systematic Measurement and Evaluations for Kawaii Products (Michiko Ohkura, Tetsuro Aoto)....Pages 15-47 Affective Evaluation for Material Perception of Bead-Coated Resin Surfaces Using Visual and Tactile Sensations—Focusing on Kawaii (Michiko Ohkura, Wataru Morishita, Kazune Inoue, Ryuji Miyazaki, Ryota Horie, Masato Takahashi et al.)....Pages 49-75 Kawaii-ness in Motion (Shohei Sugano, Ken Tomiyama)....Pages 77-91 Measurement and Evaluations of Kawaii Products by Biological Signals (Michiko Ohkura, Tetsuro Aoto, Kodai Ito, Ryota Horie)....Pages 93-123 Measurements and Evaluations of Kawaii Products by Eye Tracking (Tipporn Laohakangvalvit, Ikumi Iida, Saromporn Charoenpit, Michiko Ohkura)....Pages 125-140 Meaning of “Kawaii” from a Psychological Perspective (Hiroshi Nittono)....Pages 141-144 Front Matter ....Pages 145-145 Kawaii Spoons for Senior Citizens (Michiko Ohkura, Somchanok Tivatansakul, Kohei Akimoto)....Pages 147-151 Toward Practical Implementation of an Emotion-Driven Digital Camera Using EEG (Tomomi Takashina, Miyuki Yanagi, Yoshiyuki Yamariku, Yoshikazu Hirayama, Ryota Horie, Michiko Ohkura)....Pages 153-157 Evaluation of Key Emotional Value for Saudi Women (Enayyah Barnawi, Michiko Ohkura)....Pages 159-172 Model of Kawaii Spoon Evaluations by Thai and Japanese (Tipporn Laohakangvalvit, Tiranee Achalakul, Michiko Ohkura)....Pages 173-194 Model of Kawaii Cosmetic Bottle Evaluations by Thai and Japanese (Tipporn Laohakangvalvit, Tiranee Achalakul, Michiko Ohkura)....Pages 195-223 Kawaii Perception of Artifacts Between Chinese and Japanese Cultures (Nan Qie, Pei-Luen Patrick Rau, Michiko Ohkura, Chien-Wen Tung)....Pages 225-239 How “Kawaii” Became the Key Concept of Our Tiny Electric Car (Shinsuke Ito)....Pages 241-248 Front Matter ....Pages 249-249 Editor’s Summary (Michiko Ohkura)....Pages 251-252 Back Matter ....Pages 253-256