Comfort Pressure Evaluation of Men's Socks Using an Elastic Optical Fiber

Abstract

In this work, factor analysis is used to study six adjectives for defining comfort in Japanese men's socks. Comfort consists of three common factors: Factor A is related to a tight feeling at the sole of socks and a cramped feeling, factor B is related to a close tit feeling, and factor C is related to a tight feeling at the top of socks and a comfortable feeling. Because the comfortable feeling is closely related to the tight feeling at the top, a system is developed to measure the clothing pressure at the top of the socks using an elastic optical fiber. The relation between the subjective evaluation of comfort and the clothing pressure as measured by the experimental system is then examined by correlation analysis. Because the clothing pressure at the sock top has a positive correlation with the tight feeling at the top and a negative correlation with the comfortable feeling, men's socks are judged loose at their tops and comfortable as the clothing pressure at the top decreases.