Sliding Test by Using an Apparatus Imitating a Human Finger for Estimating the Tactile Sensation of Cosmetic Foundation

When we acquire tactile sensation, contact and relative motion are necessary between our bodies and objects. This implies that the tactile sensation is produced by friction phenomena. The present paper describes the sliding test for estimating the tactile sensation associated with cosmetic foundation. When the cosmetic foundation is rubbed with an apparatus that imitates a human finger, two types of time-evolving signals-normal and tangential-are obtained as the source of the tactile information. In the sliding test with the apparatus under the frictional condition of humans acquiring the tactile sensation, frictional vibration is observed in the tangential signals, which should be related to the tactile sensation associated with the cosmetic foundation. When a surface with a grooved pattern that imitates fingerprints is used in the sliding test, two types of frictional vibrations are observed. If an adequate sliding velocity is selected, the slight difference between the four types of commercial cosmetic foundations is discriminable by using the signals of these vibrations.