TAGS: Skin Care
Shiseido has developed two types of tactile evaluation device, Vibration Friction Sensor and Contact Force Sensor, through joint research with Tokyo Metropolitan University. Previously, it was thought to be difficult for a third party to understand the tactile sensation that a consumer may experience.
Evaluated Consumer’s Perception
The Vibration Friction Sensor measures vibration and friction using a contactor which strokes the skin to evaluate the consumer’s perception of “moistness” and “smoothness” of the skin, while the Contact Force Sensor measures contact force when the contactor presses the skin to evaluate “softness” and the consumer's perception of “elasticity” of the skin.
The researchers have also confirmed that the measured values of these two sensors correlate with the sensory evaluation scores of expert evaluators.
Shiseido has independently developed Vibration Friction Sensor that enables the company to accurately grasp and quantify the consumer’s perception of “moistness” and “smoothness” of the skin when a consumer slides their fingers over the skin. Conventional tactile sensors require experimenters to have the contactor stroke the skin to make measurements, but it is difficult to make stable evaluations due to variations in motion during measurement.
However, the newly developed sensor can stroke the skin as its motor rotates, and realize stable measurement even on a small area, such as the cheeks. By having the contactor surface mimic a fingerprint, it becomes possible to simultaneously measure the vibration and friction felt when sliding the fingers over the skin.
In this study, the researchers applied lotions with varying feel to the skin and compared the sensory evaluation scores of expert evaluators with the measured values of the Vibration Friction Sensor. As a result, the sensory evaluation score for “moistness” correlated with vibration value.
Studied the Elasticity of Skin
Shiseido has independently developed Contact Force Sensor that enables us to accurately grasp and quantify “softness” and the consumer’s perception of “elasticity” of the skin when a consumer presses their fingers onto the skin. With conventional measuring techniques, it is difficult to accurately measure the differences in skin softness between individuals, and there have been insufficient findings regarding characteristic values that correlate with tactile sensation when pressing the skin.
Meanwhile, the Contact Force Sensor uses an installed high-precision force sensor to measure the contact force when pressing the contactor onto the skin, which mimics the action of a hand pressing the skin. In addition, by analyzing the waveforms measured while the contactor is pressed onto the skin, it becomes possible to calculate the values of characteristics that indicate individual differences in the skin.
The researchers have studied these characteristic values and found that the rate of recovery after the contactor presses the skin (compression resilience) correlates with the sensory score for elasticity. Compression resilience was also found to correlate with age, indicating that changes in skin softness with age can be estimated.
Now, with the new sensors that can quantify tactile sensation with higher accuracy, and focusing on the hand movements when a consumer checks their skin condition, the researchers are able to objectively and numerically grasp the tactile sensation that the consumer is feeling with their hands.
Source: Shiseido