Latest articles have new tactile impression

Newly launched articles have variety of touch and texture such as towels with “Crispy” touch, textured-paper-touch beverage can and so on. Along with the advanced IT tools research on “good feeling of touch” is progressing.

Example 1: Body towels for men with variety of feel of hardness

Wide range of variety of hardness is available. The hardest articles have very unique names such as “Electrifyingly Hard”. Customers become keen on their tastes. Everybody wants to use his/her favorite hardness even for body towels for washing body.

KIKULON CO.,LTD.

http://www.kikulon.com/products/goomen.html

9F, 24 Rokubancho Wakayama 640-8154 Japan

TEL 073-433-2220 FAX 073-433-1300

Retail Prices range from approximately \330~\500(tax inclusive) /piece

Level of hardness: Left (Soft)Right(Hard)

These products introduced a unique index of “feel of touch” for customers to show how soft or hard feel can be produced when the material touches the skin. There are some customers particularly keen on the subtle feel of the material touching directly on the skin. Loft, a leading lifestyle giftware and zakka chain stores nationwide, has better sales of washing body towels at its Shibuya branch in 2010 until now compared to last year. And also regarding to the texture fashion items made of fluffy materials are becoming popular. Products with this kind of “new tactile impression” have been expanding in the market.

Example 2: Rough feel on canned cafe-latte drink

”Roots Smart Cafe”

Japan Tobacco inc. (Roots smart cafe :Canned coffee)

JT Group?http://www.jt.com/

2-2-1 Toranomon Minato-ku Tokyo 105-8422 Japan

Tel:03-3582-3111 Fax: 03-5572-1441

http://www.jti.co.jp/investors/press_releases/2009/1111_01/index.html

\140+tax/piece

Japan Tobacco launched in November 2009 this product. When holding this can it feels rough on the surface of the label by which the company tries to give consumers a kind of impression of craft paper wrapping around a paper cup of some famous brand coffee chain. Moreover non-woven fabric is used for the label which has heat insulating properties and by which consumers do not feel hot at the hand when holding it. According to Dentsu, a famous advertisement agency feel-of-touch conscious articles are seen as nifty by consumers and have potential to become a big hit.

Example 3:Airy decoration pens

SAKURA COLOR PRODUCTS CORP. (espie: bubling decoration pens)

http://www.craypas.com/global/

1-6-20 Morinimiyachuo Chuo-ku Osaka 540-8508 Japan

TEL.(06)6910-8800 FAX.(06)6910-8723

http://www.craypas.com/products/pickup/espie.php

\262 (tax inclusive) /piece

Airy decoration color pens by SAKURA COLOR PRODUCTS CORP. are popular among junior high school and high school girls. When drawing with these pens lines, characters and pictures become airy later. 3 dimension feel of touch is particularly catching the hearts of girls and they enjoy decorating with the pens their must-items such as hairbrushes and mobile phones so on. Some specialist & researcher analyses that when computerization of tools is progressed manipulation would get simpler. Then as a reaction consumers would become keen on texture or feel of touch.

There is an example which would show the sign of this kind of new consumer’s trend.

Example 4: High grade leather cover for i-phone

Maruwakaya (Tanned Deerskin Products)

1-20-6 #201 Nakamachi Setagaya-ku Tokyo 158-0091 Japan

Tel&Fax:03-6318-7431

Email?info@maru-waka.com

http://maru-waka.com/?page_id=233

\11,550~\13,125 (Tax inclusive)/piece

Some customers appreciate high-class covers made of tanned deerskin with Japanese traditional lacquer paint for their i-phones since they find that smooth leather fits comfortably in their hands and also find leather’s warm feel of touch is preferred than cool metal. Maruwakaya ,the distributor of these traditional leather items, have a good sales of the covers, which are made of the same material for traditional body-armor in the history.

Example5:Figure out mechanism of comfortable touch

Nissan Motor Company?

http://www.nissan.co.jp/FUGA/

1-1-1 Takashima Nishi-ku Yokohama Kanagawa 220-8686 Japan

TEL.045-523-5523

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/SITE_INFO/ABOUT/

Research on mechanism of comfortable touch is progressing too. For example, Nissan Co., and Nagoya Institute of Technology had co-developed a technique to make hard plastic feel moist when touching it. They especially paid attention to the guts of fingerprint. Their research figured out that when irregularity of the surface of material is closer to the gap of lines of fingerprint people can feel comfortably moist at the finger tips. A Classy sedan “FUGA” by Nissan has introduced this new material for the inside of door knob since every time passengers get in a car they use door knob to open and close the door. Therefore Nissan sees the importance even on the hidden place where normally can not be seen by anybody since people can feel the high quality even by a touch without seeing.

Example6: IT tools seeks for its comfort of push

IT tools are seeking for its comfort of push and now it has begun to progress. Many of IT tools in

Logicool

http://www.logicool.co.jp/index.cfm/home/&cl=jp,ja

Media & Community Relations

General Press Inquiries : mediarelations@logitech.com

Corporate Communications:Asia Pacific

Tel:852 2821 5900 Email: cannis_wong@ap.logitech.com

Logitech Product PR, Japan / Logicool, Japan

Tel:+81 (0)3-6385-7128 Email:takuya_terasawa@logitech.com

NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories

http://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/english/index.html

1-10-11 Kinuta Setagaya-ku Tokyo 157-8510 Japan

TEL: 03-5494-1125 FAX: 03-5494-3125

*News Source Nikkei News Paper March 1,2010

(For an example of body towel the article introduce in this report is different from the one introduced in the paper since good images of towels are not available).

Source : http://www.depthai.go.th