Wearing face masks in public has become the norm in many countries post-2020. Although mask-wearing is effective in controlling infection, it has the negative side effect of occluding the mask wearer’s facial expressions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of wearing transparent masks on the perception of facial expressions. Participants were required to categorize the perceived facial emotion of female (Experiment 1) and male (Experiment 2) faces with different facial expressions and to rate the perceived emotion intensity of the faces. Based on the group, the participants were assigned to, the faces were presented with a surgical mask, a transparent mask, or without a mask. The results showed that wearing a surgical mask impaired the performance of reading facial expressions, both with respect to recognition and perceived intensity of facial emotions. Specifically, the impairments were robustly observed in fear and happy faces for emotion recognition, and in happy faces for perceived intensity of emotion in Experiments 1 and 2. However, the impairments were moderated by wearing a transparent mask instead of a surgical mask. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the transparent mask can be used in a range of situations where face-to-face communication is important.

We report the results of psychological evaluation of a floor wiper developed in accordance withWe report the results of psychological evaluation of a floor wiper developed in accordance with the consumer needs for gap cleaning of floors. Specifically, we examined the effect of cleaning floors the consumer needs for gap cleaning of floors. Specifically, we examined the effect of cleaning floors with this wiper on mood and usability in two experiments. Participants cleaned the floor of a dining-with this wiper on mood and usability in two experiments. Participants cleaned the floor of a dininglike environment, including gaps between the furniture. They used two different floor wipers under like environment, including gaps between the furniture. They used two different floor wipers under two conditions, a) an easy-wiper condition in which participants used a wiper that targeted the gaps, two conditions, a) an easy-wiper condition in which participants used a wiper that targeted the gaps, and b) a difficult-wiper condition in which participants used a wiper that occasionally got stuck in the and b) a difficult-wiper condition in which participants used a wiper that occasionally got stuck in the gaps. Mood ratings were taken before and after. After the cleaning, the usability of wiper was also gaps. Mood ratings were taken before and after. After the cleaning, the usability of wiper was also measured. The results showed that positive mood increased, and negative mood decreased under the measured. The results showed that positive mood increased, and negative mood decreased under the easy-wiper condition compared to the difficult-wiper condition after the cleaning task (Experiment 1) . easy-wiper condition compared to the difficult-wiper condition after the cleaning task (Experiment 1) . In Experiment 2, the positive/negative mood differences between the tool conditions were smaller in In Experiment 2, the positive/negative mood differences between the tool conditions were smaller in an environment with fewer obstacles. The usability was generally higher in the easy-wiper than in the an environment with fewer obstacles. The usability was generally higher in the easy-wiper than in the difficult-wiper conditions. The present study identified that floor cleaning with a wiper, compatible with difficult-wiper conditions. The present study identified that floor cleaning with a wiper, compatible with the floor-cleaning environment, improved the post-cleaning moods. These results could be derived from the floor-cleaning environment, improved the post-cleaning moods. These results could be derived from the processing fluency of haptic maneuvering of wipers. the processing fluency of haptic maneuvering of wipers.

No abstract