Evaluation method of aroma, evaluation device, evaluation program and recording medium

Abstract

To enable intuitively evaluating aroma.SOLUTION: An evaluation method of aroma comprises: an image presentation step S2 that presents a plurality of images to a subject; an image identification step S3 that identifies an image which is selected as an image corresponding to the aroma out of the plurality of images; a relationship identification step S4 that identifies a first relationship which is a relationship between the aroma and the plurality of images on the basis of a result of the image identification step S3; and an evaluation step S6 that evaluates the aroma by means of an image word on the basis of the first relationship and a second relationship which is a relationship between the plurality of images and a plurality of image words representing the aroma.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for evaluating fragrance.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in order to evaluate the fragrance of new products and the like, a method has been used in which a questionnaire describing a group of image words representing the fragrance is presented to a large number of subjects, and the subjects are asked to select the degree of match using words corresponding to the fragrance or a rating scale. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for evaluating the characteristics of a fragrance by having a subject answer the grade of the fragrance corresponding to a sensory evaluation term for evaluating the fragrance based on a sensory stimulus and an emotional evaluation term for evaluating the mood evoked when smelling the fragrance.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, since the sense of smell is intuitive, it is difficult for ordinary subjects who have not received training in evaluating fragrance to accurately verbalize and evaluate the fragrance. For example, in high-priced personal care products, a premium fragrance is required. However, in the evaluation method of having subjects answer words as in the prior art, it has been difficult for subjects to accurately evaluate the impression elements that constitute an abstract image such as the "premium feeling" of the fragrance.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to enable intuitive evaluation of fragrance.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes the following aspects. Item 1. A method for evaluating fragrance, comprising: An image presentation step of presenting a plurality of images to a subject; An image identification step of identifying an image selected as the image corresponding to the fragrance from among the plurality of images; A relationship identification step of identifying a first relationship, which is the relationship between the fragrance and the plurality of images, based on the result of the image identification step; An evaluation step of evaluating the fragrance by image words based on the first relationship and a second relationship, which is the relationship between the plurality of images and a plurality of image words representing the fragrance; An evaluation method having the above. Item 2. The evaluation method according to Item 1, wherein in the evaluation step, the relationship between the fragrance and at least one of the plurality of image words is evaluated. Item 3. The evaluation method according to Item 2, wherein in the evaluation step, the relationship between the fragrance and each of the plurality of image words is evaluated. Item 4. A fragrance evaluation apparatus, comprising: An image presentation unit that presents a plurality of images to a subject; An image identification unit that identifies an image selected as the image corresponding to the fragrance from among the plurality of images; A relationship identification unit that identifies a first relationship, which is the relationship between the fragrance and the plurality of images, based on the result of the image identification unit; An evaluation unit that evaluates the fragrance by image words based on the first relationship and a second relationship, which is the relationship between the plurality of images and a plurality of image words representing the fragrance; A fragrance evaluation apparatus having the above. Item 5. An evaluation program for evaluating fragrance, comprising: An image presentation step of presenting a plurality of images to a subject; An image identification step of identifying an image selected as the image corresponding to the fragrance from among the plurality of images; Based on the result of the image identification step, a relationship identification step of identifying a first relationship which is the relationship between the scent and the plurality of images; An evaluation step of evaluating the scent by image words based on the first relationship and a second relationship which is the relationship between the plurality of images and a plurality of image words expressing the scent; An evaluation program for causing a computer to execute the above. Item 6. A computer-readable recording medium recording the evaluation program according to Item 5. [Effect of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, intuitive evaluation of scent can be enabled. [Brief Description of the Drawings]

[0008]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit thereof.

[0010] [Configuration of Evaluation Device] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an evaluation device 1 according to the present embodiment. The evaluation device 1 is a device for evaluating the scent of a target product and is communicably connected to a terminal device 2 operated by a subject. As will be described later, a plurality of images are displayed on the terminal device 2, and the subject selects an image corresponding to the scent of the target product from among those images. The evaluation device 1 evaluates the scent of the target product based on the selected image.

[0011] The evaluation device 1 can be configured by a general-purpose computer and includes, as a hardware configuration, a processor such as a CPU or GPU, a main storage device (not shown) such as a DRAM or SRAM, and an auxiliary storage device 11 such as an HDD or SSD. The auxiliary storage device 11 stores an evaluation program P, image data I, a relational database D1, a relational database D2, and the like.

[0012] The evaluation device 1 includes, as functional blocks, an image presentation unit 12, an image identification unit 13, a relationship identification unit 14, and an evaluation unit 15. These functional blocks are realized by the processor of the evaluation device 1 reading and executing the evaluation program P from the main storage device. The evaluation program P may be downloaded to the evaluation device 1 via a communication network such as the Internet, or the evaluation program P may be recorded on a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium such as a CD-ROM and installed on the evaluation device 1 via the recording medium.

[0013] The terminal device 2 is a device operated by the subject, and in addition to a general-purpose computer, it can be configured by a portable computer such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal. The number of subjects and the number of terminal devices 2 are not particularly limited. Note that the evaluation device 1 may have the functions of the terminal device 2, and the subject may operate the evaluation device 1.

[0014] [Processing Procedure of Evaluation Method] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the evaluation method according to the present embodiment. The evaluation method has steps S1 to S6, and each of the above functional blocks of the evaluation device 1 executes steps S2 to S6. That is, the evaluation program P causes the evaluation device 1 to execute steps S2 to S6.

[0015] In step S1, the scent to be evaluated is presented to the subject. The object to be evaluated is not particularly limited as long as it emits a scent, but in the present embodiment, it is the fragrance component of a newly released product, and the subject evaluates the scent felt at the mouth of the container containing the fragrance component or under actual use conditions. The subject is, for example, a participant in a monitor for evaluating a product, and the number of people is assumed to be n.

[0016] In step S2 (image presentation step), the image presentation unit 12 of the evaluation device 1 presents a plurality of images to the subject. In the present embodiment, the image presentation unit 12 reads the image data I from the auxiliary storage device 11 and transmits it to the terminal device 2. As a result, a plurality of images are displayed on the display unit 21 of the terminal device 2. The subject can select an image corresponding to the scent to be evaluated by operating the input unit 22 such as a touch panel or a mouse.

[0017] The image data I is an image selected in advance as an image for evaluating the scent, and the type and number are not particularly limited. For example, when the concept of the evaluation target is "premium feeling", it is desirable that the image data I includes a large number of images that evoke a premium feeling. An example of such an image is shown in FIG. 3. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the image shown in FIG. 3 is included in the image data I.

[0018] FIG. 4 is an example of a screen displayed on the terminal device 2. Check boxes are provided below each image. When the display screen is small, one or a plurality of images may be sequentially displayed, but it is preferable to display all the images at once.

[0019] The subject selects an image corresponding to the scent to be evaluated and checks the check box below the corresponding image. If there is no corresponding image, the subject checks the check box below the area described as "nothing in this matches". When the checking is completed, the subject clicks or touches a confirmation button (not shown) to confirm the answer. The answer is transmitted to the evaluation device 1.

[0020] In step S3 (image identification step), the image identification unit 13 of the evaluation device 1 identifies an image selected as an image corresponding to the scent from among a plurality of images based on the answer transmitted from the terminal device 2.

[0021] Next, in step S4 (relationship identification step), the relationship identification unit 14 of the evaluation device 1 identifies a first relationship, which is the relationship between the scent and the plurality of images, based on the result of step S4. The identified first relationship is recorded in the relationship database D1. FIG. 5(a) shows an example of the first relationship, where "1" indicates the selected image.

[0022] Steps S1 to S4 are repeated until they are performed for all the subjects (YES in step S5). As a result, the first relationships of n subjects are accumulated in the relationship database D1. FIG. 5(b) shows an example of the relationship database D1, where the values in the "total" column at the right end and the relationships with images 1 to 5 correspond to the accumulated first relationships.

[0023] Next, in step S6 (evaluation step), the evaluation unit 15 of the evaluation device 1 evaluates the scent using the image words based on the first relationship recorded in the relationship database D1 and the second relationship recorded in the relationship database D2. The relationship database D2 records a second relationship, which is the relationship between the plurality of images included in the image data I and the image words representing the scent.

[0024] FIG. 5(c) shows an example of the second relationship recorded in the relationship database D2, which means that the higher the numerical value, the higher the relationship between the image word and the image. As will be described later, the relationship database D2 can be created in advance by conducting a test to evaluate a plurality of images using image words.

[0025] In this embodiment, the evaluation unit 15 evaluates the relationship between the scent and each of the plurality of image words. This relationship can be obtained by calculating the matrix product of the first relationship and the second relationship. The relationship calculated from the first relationship shown in FIG. 5(b) and the second relationship shown in FIG. 5(c) is shown in FIG. 6. For example, the relationship between the scent and image word 1 is obtained as follows.

[0026] [Number]

[0027] From the relationship shown in FIG. 6, it can be evaluated that the scent has the highest tendency to evoke Image Word 3. Note that only the image words with high relationships may be extracted and output as the evaluation result. Also, the method of calculating the relationship is not limited to this, and for example, it is also possible to calculate using the correlation coefficient.

[0028] In addition, the evaluation unit 15 may evaluate the relationship between the scent and at least one of the plurality of image words. FIG. 7 is a modification example of the second relationship, in which one image word is associated with one image. In this case, in the first relationship, the evaluation unit 15 evaluates the image word ("tasty") corresponding to the image with the highest relationship with the scent (Image 1 in FIG. 5(b)) as the image word with the highest relationship with the scent. Note that in the second relationship shown in FIG. 7, at least one image may be associated with a plurality of image words, and in this case, the evaluation unit 15 may evaluate the scent by identifying one or more image words with high relationships with the scent.

[0029] [Parentheses] As described above, in the present embodiment, the subject is made to select an image corresponding to the scent, the first relationship which is the relationship between the scent and the plurality of images is specified, and the scent is evaluated based on the first relationship and the second relationship which is the relationship between the plurality of images and the plurality of image words. That is, instead of making the subject select an image word corresponding to the scent as in the prior art, the scent is evaluated by making the subject select an image corresponding to the scent. Since vision is also intuitive like olfaction, the subject can intuitively select an image close to the image that comes to mind from the scent. Therefore, the subject can perform an intuitive evaluation of the scent. In particular, even a subject who has difficulty verbalizing can accurately evaluate the scent. [Examples]

[0030] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0031] [Creation of the Second Relationship] In this embodiment, the concept to be evaluated was "premium feeling". First, a second relationship (relationship database D2 shown in FIG. 1) was created by conducting a test to evaluate a plurality of images with image words as follows.

[0032] [Selection of Evaluation Images] To collect images that evoke a premium feeling, four trained researchers specializing in the evaluation of scents collected images that gave a premium impression, and 75 images were selected by voting from the approximately 200 images obtained.

[0033] [Selection of Evaluation Image Words] To collect image words suitable for evaluating a premium impression, four trained researchers specializing in the evaluation of scents evaluated 10 high-end cosmetics in various fragrance notes, and words that lead to a premium feeling of the scent were extracted. From the approximately 100 words extracted, 33 words were selected as evaluation image words that were considered to comprehensively evaluate the characteristics of the scent.

[0034] [Image Evaluation with Image Words] A web questionnaire for associating images with image words was conducted on 200 women in their 20s and 30s. Specifically, a screen as shown in FIG. 8 was presented on the web, and for each image selected as an evaluation image, the impression of the image was evaluated by the CATA method (Check-All-That-Apply method) in which the user was allowed to select applicable ones from 33 evaluation image words (only 12 words are shown in FIG. 8). Furthermore, a screen as shown in FIG. 9 was presented on the web, and the premium feeling of each image was evaluated on a 5-point scale (5: feel very much, 4: feel somewhat, 3: neither, 2: don't feel much, 1: don't feel at all).

[0035] Based on the evaluation results by the CATA method, cluster analysis of the images was performed to group similar images. Limiting to the images with an average value of the premium feeling evaluation of 3 points or more, one image with a high average value of the image word evaluation characterizing the cluster was selected from each cluster, and 27 images for the premium impression evaluation were selected. The data obtained by standardizing the data obtained by evaluating these images with image words was used as the relational database D2 of the relationship between the images and the image words.

[0036] As described above, the second relationship (relational database D2) was created. Fig. 10(a) is a part of the second relationship according to this embodiment, and Fig. 10(b) is the result of standardizing the second relationship shown in Fig. 10(a).

[0037] [Evaluation of fragrance] Subsequently, using the relational database D2, the fragrances of the five evaluation targets were evaluated. In this embodiment, an impression survey of the fragrance was conducted on 60 female subjects in their 20s and 30s by a central location test.

[0038] (Presentation of images) The five fragrances of the evaluation targets were presented to the subjects in order, and the subjects evaluated the impression of the fragrance by the CATA method in which they were allowed to select the appropriate one from the evaluation images displayed on the PC screen while smelling each fragrance of the evaluation target. The 27 evaluation images were all displayed on one screen. When there was no image that matched the image that came to mind from the fragrance, the subjects were allowed to select "None of these match". Note that the position where each image was displayed was randomized for each evaluation target.

[0039] (Specification of the first relationship) Based on the responses of each subject, the first relationship, which is the relationship between the fragrance and the 27 evaluation images, was specified. Fig. 11(a) is a part of the first relationship according to this embodiment, and Fig. 11(b) is the result of standardizing the first relationship shown in Fig. 11(a).

[0040] (Evaluation of fragrance) Based on the first relationship shown in Fig. 10(b) and the second relationship shown in Fig. 11(b), the scent was evaluated using image words. Fig. 12(a) shows a part of the relationship between the scent and the image words calculated by matrix multiplication, and Fig. 12(b) shows a part of the relationship between the scent and the image words calculated by Pearson's correlation coefficient.

[0041] As shown in Figs. 12(a) and (b), in the relationships calculated by either method, scents 1 to 5 can be evaluated as having high correlations with image words 1, 3, 1, 4, and 5, respectively.

Explanation of Symbols

[0042] 1 Evaluation device 11 Auxiliary storage device 12 Image presentation unit 13 Image identification unit 14 Relationship identification unit 15 Evaluation unit 2 Terminal device 21 Display unit 22 Input unit D1 Relationship database D2 Relationship database I Image data P Evaluation program

Claims

1. An aroma evaluation method, comprising: an image presentation step of presenting a plurality of images to a subject; an image identification step of identifying an image selected as the image corresponding to the aroma from among the plurality of images; a relationship identification step of identifying a first relationship, which is the relationship between the aroma and the plurality of images, based on the result of the image identification step; an evaluation step of evaluating the aroma by image words based on the first relationship and a second relationship, which is the relationship between the plurality of images and a plurality of image words representing the aroma; An evaluation method having the above steps.

2. The evaluation method according to claim 1, wherein in the evaluation step, the relationship between the aroma and at least one of the plurality of image words is evaluated.

3. The evaluation method according to claim 2, wherein in the evaluation step, the relationship between the aroma and each of the plurality of image words is evaluated.

4. An aroma evaluation apparatus, comprising: an image presentation unit that presents a plurality of images to a subject; an image identification unit that identifies an image selected as the image corresponding to the aroma from among the plurality of images; a relationship identification unit that identifies a first relationship, which is the relationship between the aroma and the plurality of images, based on the result of the image identification unit; an evaluation unit that evaluates the aroma by image words based on the first relationship and a second relationship, which is the relationship between the plurality of images and a plurality of image words representing the aroma; An evaluation apparatus having the above units.

5. An evaluation program for evaluating an aroma, the program causing a computer to execute: an image presentation step of presenting a plurality of images to a subject; an image identification step of identifying an image selected as the image corresponding to the aroma from among the plurality of images; a relationship identification step of identifying a first relationship, which is the relationship between the aroma and the plurality of images, based on the result of the image identification step; an evaluation step of evaluating the aroma by image words based on the first relationship and a second relationship, which is the relationship between the plurality of images and a plurality of image words representing the aroma; An evaluation program.

6. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon the evaluation program according to claim 5.

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