An experimental evaluation on thermal comfort and fatigue of human wearing mascot costumes in summer

Abstract

Abstract Staffs wearing mascot costumes are quite common in performances and commercial promotions, but the internal thermal environment is usually poor in summer due to the high heat resistance of clothes and low ventilation efficiency, which increase the fatigue and discomfortable level of staffs greatly. In this study, thermal sensation and fatigue of human wearing mascot costumes in summer were explored. The three physiological indicators, including oral temperature, skin temperature and weight loss percentage, were measured, while the subjective indicators including thermal sensation, moisture sensation, air movement sensation, thermal comfort and fatigue level were inquired by a survey questionnaire. The results showed that compared volunteers dressed normal cloths, the average oral and skin temperatures of volunteers wearing mascot costumes was increased by 0.15°C and 0.60°C and their weight loss percentage was increased by 20.5%. Through the 40-minute experiment, the thermal discomfort votes of two groups are 3.22 (higher than ‘very uncomfortable (+3)’) and 1.51 (between ‘a little uncomfortable (+1)’ and ‘uncomfortable (+2)’), respectively, while their fatigue votes are 13.07 and 7.02, respectively. It showed wearing mascot costumes increased thermal discomfort and fatigue greatly.