Design of Creative Toys Based on Kansei Engineering and Grey Relational Analysis

Objective: Constructing a cultural and creative toy design scheme that meets users' sensory needs. Method: The following study proposes a novel method for the design of cultural and creative toys, with a particular focus on Pellet Drum toys. The proposed method is based on Kansei Engineering and Grey Relational Analysis, and is illustrated by the application of traditional opera culture in Jiangxi Province. The method involves the collection of samples and sensory vocabulary of cultural and creative Pellet Drum toys, the division of the evolution stages of cultural and creative toy designs in factor analysis, the extraction of morphological features of several samples in one stage, and the summarisation of these features. The application of Grey Relational Analysis then enables the determination of the relative importance of Pellet Drum forms with Jiangxi opera cultural elements, as perceived by different sensory vocabularies. The design of toy forms is then informed by this ranking. Results: The present study proposes a methodology for the design of cultural and creative toys, with a focus on the collection of user requirements and the division of the evolution stages of toy designs. The approach utilises Kansei Engineering techniques to identify user needs, with the objective of avoiding the impact of toy forms eliminated by users on the results. The methodology is intended to provide design efficiency while better fitting user needs.