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 Engineering will appeal to those
who work on affective computing product design user experience design virtual reality and
biological signals.
