Abstract: In order to explore the difference between online visual perception and offline visual and tactile perception of fabrics, taking shirting as the research object, the paper selected four types of conventional fabrics, i.e., Uniqlo long-staple cotton fabric, oxford cloth, worsted knitted fabric, and flax shirting, as fabric samples. 63 college students were randomly organized as testers to evaluate the fabrics through the website online and feel the actual fabrics offline. They graded the fabric feelings via six dimensions, including softness, draping performance, breathability, smoothness, compactness, and glossiness. On the basis of that, the paper carried out a data analysis combining statistical methods. Results indicate that there were dramatic differences between the online and offline perceptual cognition of shirting with different materials, among which fabric’s breathability, softness and compactness showed broad perception differences. In addition, the paper also analyzed the impact of gender and profession on perception differences. The analysis showed that men’s online and offline perception differences were greater than women’s, and non-textile major students had greater perception differences than textile major students.

Key words: kansei engineering; display effects; shirting; perceptual cognition