The perception of materials through oral sensation

This paper presents the results of a multimodal study of oral perception conducted with a set of material samples made from metals, polymers and woods, in which both the somatosensory and taste factors were examined. A multidimensional scaling analysis coupled with subjective attribute ratings was performed to assess these factors both qualitatively and quantitatively. The perceptual somatosensory factors of warmth, hardness and roughness dominated over the basic taste factors, and roughness was observed to be a less significant sensation compared to touch-only experiments. The perceptual somatosensory ratings were compared directly with physical property data in order to assess the correlation between the perceived properties and measured physical properties. In each case, a strong correlation was observed, suggesting that physical properties may be useful in industrial design for predicting oral perception

Metals and Metal Alloys and their Enhanced Properties for Jewelry Applications

Jewelry can be made with a wide range of materials, including metal, which is one of the most fashionable materials. Metal jewelry has been used for many centuries due to the attractive and outstanding properties of them. However, there are still limitations for using metals in jewelry, even though metal jewelry has been enhanced and developed continuously in order to reduce the limitations as well as to satisfy the customer needs. In this review article, there are three main groups of metals that are trendy and be able to improve their properties for jewelry application; (i) Precious metals used for Fine Jewelry including gold, platinum, silver and their alloys, (ii) Base metal used for Costume Jewelry or Fashion Jewelry including copper and its alloys and (iii) Other metals for Alternative Jewelry including Titanium and Stainless Steel. The main enhancement properties in metals are alloying elements, which improve their mechanical and physical properties with concerning the hypoallergenic and purity of metals particularly Fine Jewelry. Furthermore, selecting and developing suitable jewelry processing are other important issues to be considered

Design tools for interdisciplinary translation of material experiences

Designers increasingly have the opportunity to influence the development of materials as they emerge from the laboratory. In order for this to be successful, designers need to be able to communicate effectively with materials scientists so that materials can be developed with desired functionalities and properties. This paper reviews evidence in favour of using isomorphic sets of material stimuli as tools to bridge the disciplinary gap between designers and materials scientists. We show how these isomorphic sets and their accompanying experiments can be used to translate between the two communities, and to systematically explore the relationship between the technical attributes of materials and subjective experiences of their sound, taste and feel. This paper also explores the limitations of psychophysical approaches and other quantitative techniques for elucidating material experience, and suggests new possibilities for interdisciplinary collaborations that draw on ethnographic approaches

The use of physical property data to predict the touch perception of materials

This paper examines whether the physical properties of materials can be useful predictors of psychophysical properties of materials. In this study psychophysical methods were employed to study the link between the measured surface roughness, elastic modulus and thermal effusivity and the perceptual qualities of roughness, hardness and coldness, for a diverse set of materials (woods, polymers and metals). A strong positive correlation was found between the physical and the psychophysical properties of materials that determine touch perception. Furthermore, by analysing the data in which vision of the sample was controlled, it was found that in some cases there is a shift in touch perception between the sighted and unsighted condition that affects polymer samples most strongly

A summary of the responses in Experiment 2, where the participants were given freedom to describe the sensations experienced when sampling the materials.

<p>*Factors which correspond to those which were tested in experiment 1.</p

Log plots of the perceived warmth with thermal effusivity (<i>e</i>), perceived hardness with elastic modulus (<i>E</i>), and perceived roughness with surface roughness (<i>R</i>_a), with the linear regression lines shown on each.

<p>A close correlation can be seen in all cases.</p

A scree plot showing the reduction normalised raw stress with an increase in dimensionality.

<p>A pronounced elbow at 2 dimensions suggests that the data may be most simply explained using a two dimensional MDS plot.</p

The two-dimensional MDS solutions plotted, with the subjective tactile ratings regressed over the MDS coordinates and plotted as vectors.

<p>Two tight groupings (metals in the bottom left, woods and rough polystyrene in the bottom right) are seen. Metals sit in a tight group between the hard and the cold vectors, whilst the woods and rough polystyrene sit between the rough and the warm vectors, revealing that the metals were perceived as ‘cold and hard’ and the woods and rough polystyrene perceived as ‘warm and rough’.</p

The nine stimuli used in the study, with one of the weighted ABS handles used to hold the stimuli during the experiment.

<p>From left to right: polystyrene (PS), rough polystyrene (R PS), stainless steel, copper, rough copper, birch, balsa, glass and silicone.</p

The MDS solution plotted in two-dimensions.

<p>The data positions show that the participants perceived similarities between the metals, and between the woods and rough polystyrene. The spacing between the glass, polystyrene and silicone suggest these were perceived as being dissimilar to any other of the materials. The isolation of silicone suggests it was perceived as being significantly different to all other materials.</p