JP6099092B2 - Sensory quantity rating device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention related to the commentary constant device Ru using the sensory evaluation to measure the general sensory (rated value), in particular, the intensity of sensory recognition caused to stimulation input from the outside (sensory quantity, however, in the following synonymously referred to as "psychological weight".) about the sense of the amount of evaluation apparatus to measure.

As a method for expressing a sense felt by humans, a VAS (visual analog scale) for marking a line drawn on paper as shown in FIG. 4 has been used (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
However, with this method, it is impossible to express a value that changes over time (for example, the strength of aftertaste).

In the past, a slide knob type evaluator has been used to evaluate a value having a change with time. For example, the present inventors have examined the odor adaptation characteristics by the continuous sensory intensity rating method, and at this time, using a psychological quantity evaluation apparatus that moves the slide knob in the lateral direction, continuous intensity for 10 minutes. Rating was performed (see Non-Patent Document 1). The psychological amount evaluation apparatus described in Non-Patent Document 1 uses a slide knob having a movable range of 30 cm in the left-right direction, a scale is drawn on the side of the guide rail according to the movable range, and a six-step odor intensity display (0 : Odorless, 1: finally perceptible, 2: weak, 3: easy to perceive, 4: strong, 5: intense), and the position information of the slide knob corresponding to the sensory intensity rating value is a voltage value. After being converted into a digital value, the digital value is stored in the computer every 50 milliseconds by the A / D converter, and is displayed on the display for visual feedback of the sensory intensity evaluated by operating the slide knob. It was what was made.
However, for the panel (evaluator), when the rating value is moving and when there is no change, the force applied to the rating is not the same, and when moving, it is necessary to apply a force exceeding the static friction force For example, there is a need to control the movement of the arm when expressing the rating value, and it is necessary to respond to the state of the knob. This may cause variation in the amount of conversion.

Further, in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-255728), when a panel (evaluator) presses a load cell, the pressing force (which can be felt as a feeling of pressure with pain) is treated as an evaluation value. Attempts are being made and feedback is given by the loudness of the sound in order to know the power the panel is making.
However, there are problems with this method. Usually, a general panel that has not been trained is labeled with a rating scale as shown in FIG. With labels such as “weak”, the general panel can easily express sensory quantities. However, in feedback based on sound volume, it is difficult to correctly display the rating value because the panel does not know which label the current sound volume corresponds to. In other words, there is no means for confirming whether the strength at which the user is pushing the knob is the correct amount of sensation that he / she feels. On the other hand, in the conventional slide knob type, since the position of the knob can be visually confirmed, the sensory amount represented by the general panel can be easily confirmed by itself.

JP 2006-334186 A (refer to FIG. 8 in particular) JP-A-7-255728

“Time dependence of olfactory fatigue in city gas odorants”, Journal of Odor and Kaori Environmental Society, Vol. 43 No. 1 (2012), 45-53

Therefore, the problems to be solved by the present invention are as follows.
(1) Due to the characteristics of the sensation expression method using the slide knob, the rating applied to the evaluator is not the same when the rating value is moving, and when the rating value is unchanged and stationary. When moving, it is necessary to apply a force exceeding the static frictional force, and it is necessary to control the movement of the arm when expressing the rating value. However, since the necessity of these controls hinders the evaluator's evaluation process, the minimum is desirable, and “no change of state” is necessary during evaluation such as movement / stop.
(2) Use visual feedback for the panel to know the rating value more accurately. When using a general panel that has not been trained as described above, the key is how easily the panel can express its own sense of quantity. For this purpose, labeling by words is the most effective, and visual sensory feedback is used to make use of this.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the psychological quantity evaluation device of the present invention includes a load cell for detecting a pulling force, a stretchable elastic body having one end attached to the load cell, and a string-like shape attached to the other end of the elastic body. A psychometric evaluation device comprising a body, a ring attached to the tip of a string-like body, a personal computer with an AD board for inputting the output of the load cell via a load cell amplifier, and a display for visual feedback, The elastic body is pulled and stretched by the string-like body by the amount that pulls downward, and the tensile force according to the amount of elongation of the elastic body is applied to the load cell, and the tensile force according to the amount of elongation of the elastic body pulls the ring Force feedback is provided as force, and a rating value corresponding to the amount drawn downward by the personal computer from the output of the load cell is calculated to correspond to the elapsed time Stores as evaluation value, and displaying the calculated evaluation value in real time visual feedback display.
Further, the present invention is characterized in that in the psychological quantity rating device, a stopper mechanism for limiting the movable area of the ring is provided, and the movable area of the ring is limited to a range between a minimum rating value and a maximum rating value.
Further, in the psychological amount rating device, the rating value displayed in real time on the display is displayed as a column extending and contracting from the top to the bottom on the display, the maximum rating value is below, the minimum rating value is It is characterized by displaying so as to come up.

In the present invention, the panel (evaluator) always needs to apply a force (continuously changing according to the evaluation value) pulled from the spring, and the force applied to the initial movement, which was necessary in the slide knob method, is required. Adjustment is unnecessary, and as a result, the evaluator no longer needs to control the position of the arm or the like in order to convey the evaluation value felt by the evaluator.
Further, in the present invention, visual feedback is used, and at the same time, a label with words (for example, I don't know: I can understand at last: Weak: We understand clearly: Strong: Intense) is given together with a 6-level evaluation of numbers 0-5. Therefore, even a general panel who has not been trained can easily express his / her sense amount.
Further, in the present invention, force feedback, i.e. feedback by the force sense of the rating value represented by the rater (the force with which the finger is pulled), the rater can intuitively know his rating value, Moreover, since the magnitude of the force feedback is roughly proportional to the amount of stretch of the elastic body that can be stretched, it is roughly proportional to the amount that the panel (evaluator) pulled the ring (the same as the amount of stretch of the elastic body). Since the haptic feedback is performed, the feedback is more accurate and intuitive than the conventional painful pressure.

It is the schematic explaining the operation | movement principle of the psychological amount evaluation apparatus of this invention. It is the figure which showed an example of the stopper mechanism of the psychological amount evaluation apparatus of this invention. The measurement example which actually evaluated about "bitterness" which remains in the aftertaste of a coffee drink using the psychological amount evaluation apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the conventional VAS entry paper. It is the figure which showed the example of a label attached to the conventional rating scaler.

The operation principle of the psychological evaluation apparatus of the present invention is as shown in FIG. 1, and the panel (evaluator) draws the ring up and down to express the felt strength. The state in which the panel does not apply a downward force to the ring is 0 (not sure), and the value increases by pulling downward. The amount (distance) at which the panel pulled the ring becomes the amount of spring extension, generating force feedback, and being loaded into the PC via the load cell, amplifier, AD board, and visual feedback via the display in real time. Provided to. Also, a stopper mechanism is built in the box, so that the ring does not rise when it is 0 (I don't know), and it doesn't fall any further when it is 5 (strong).
By adopting the configuration as described above, the rater is given force feedback, that is, feedback based on the force sense of the rating value (the force by which the finger is pulled) represented by the rater, and visual feedback shown on the display. It became possible to know my rating value intuitively. In addition, by adopting the structure as described above, the evaluator only needs to apply a force that is pulled from the spring, and if the slide knob method is used, it is not necessary to adjust the force applied at the time of initial movement. . As a result, the evaluator no longer needs to control the position of the arm or the like in order to convey the evaluation value felt by the evaluator.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. A load cell for detecting a tensile force, a stretchable elastic body such as a coil spring having one end attached to the load cell, and a second end attached to the other end of the elastic body. This psychological quantity evaluation device has a string-like body, a ring attached to the tip of the string-like body, a personal computer with an AD board that inputs the output of the load cell via the load cell amplifier, and a visual feedback display. When the panel (evaluator) pulls the ring downward, the elastic body is pulled by the string-like body, and the elastic body is stretched by the amount of pulling the ring, and the tensile force corresponding to the amount of elongation of the elastic body is applied to the load cell. In addition to being loaded, the panel (evaluator) is force-feedback as a finger pulling force. In addition, the PC calculates the rating value according to the amount the panel pulled the ring downward based on the input from the load cell, stores it as the rating value according to the elapsed time, and visually calculates the calculated rating value in real time. On the display. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the visual feedback display is displayed with a white pillar that expands and contracts from top to bottom, and a 6-level display with numbers from 0 to 5 next to the pillar, a verbal label, 0: “I don't know”, 1: “I understand at last”, 2: “Weak”, 3: “I understand clearly”, 4: “Strong”, 5: “Intense”. In the display by the white columns in FIG. 1, the rating value is displayed as “3.9” and is visually fed back to the panel (rater).
1 and 2, a changing mechanism such as a pulley is provided in the middle of the string-like body so that the panel can pull the ring downward. Further, a stopper mechanism is incorporated, and in the example of FIG. 2, a minimum value stopper and a maximum value stopper are provided, and an engagement portion provided on an elastic body or a string-like body that is stretchable engages with the stopper. In this case, the range is between the minimum rating value (for example, “0: I do n’t know” in the case of a 6-level evaluation from “0” to “5”) and the maximum rating value (“5: intense” in the case of a 6-level evaluation). The movable area is limited.
According to the psychological quantity rating apparatus configured as described above, the rating value represented by the panel (evaluator) is fed back by visual feedback shown on the display and force feedback by which the finger is pulled. The person can know his / her rating value intuitively. In addition, by adopting the configuration as described above, the evaluator only needs to apply the force pulled from the coil spring, and adjustment of the force applied at the time of initial movement, which was necessary in the slide lever method, is not necessary. As a result, the evaluator no longer needs to control the position of the arm in order to convey the evaluation value felt by the evaluator.

  Using the psychological quantity evaluation apparatus of the present invention, the temporal decay was measured by about 120 general panels (evaluators) regarding the “bitter taste” and “scent” remaining in the aftertaste of coffee beverages. As a result, there was no voice from the rating participants that it was difficult to rate, and even with canned coffee using the same ingredients, it was shown that the reduction in aroma in the aftertaste was statistically significantly different by changing the manufacturing method. . When the measurement result regarding the “bitter taste” remaining in the aftertaste of the coffee beverages of production method A and production method B is shown in FIG. 3, the vertical axis is the intensity of bitterness and the horizontal axis is the elapsed time. The effectiveness of the psychological quantity evaluation device of the present invention was confirmed. In addition, when the average of the bitterness on the tongue of the coffee drink obtained from the panel and the scent of the back of the throat at each time was calculated, it was found that each decreased exponentially, and the time constant The effectiveness of the psychological quantity evaluation apparatus of the present invention was confirmed even for psychological quantities that change over time.

  The psychological quantity evaluation device of the present invention is a sensory evaluation of the properties (taste and odor) of foods that vary depending on the chewing process of the food, aftertaste after swallowing (swallowing) soft drinks, pepper and wasabi, etc. Can be used for any psychological assessment, such as strength assessment.

Claims (3)

A load cell for detecting a pulling force; a stretchable elastic body attached to one end of the load cell; a string attached to the other end of the elastic body; a ring attached to the tip of the string; A sensory quantity rating device equipped with a personal computer with an AD board that inputs output via a load cell amplifier and a display for visual feedback,
Elastic body is in extended pulled by only the string-like body amounts pulling the ring downwards, together with the tensile force corresponding to the elongation of the elastic body is Ru is load cell, tensile force corresponding to the elongation amount of the elastic body The force pulling the ring is force feedback,
A rating value corresponding to the amount by which the ring is pulled downward by the personal computer is calculated from the output of the load cell and stored as a rating value corresponding to the elapsed time, and the calculated rating value is displayed on the visual feedback display in real time. Sensory quantity rating device characterized by that. The sensory quantity rating device according to claim 1, wherein a stopper mechanism for limiting the movable area of the ring is provided, and the movable area of the ring is limited to a range between a minimum rating value and a maximum rating value. The rating value displayed in real time on the display is displayed as a column that expands and contracts from top to bottom on the display, and is displayed so that the maximum rating value is below and the minimum rating value is above. The sensory amount rating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

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