Development of the impression detection system by using a portable EEG device for tourist impression analysis

International tourists in Japan are increasing year by year, and the Japanese government keeps promoting the tourism industry. To make Japan more attractive for tourists, the analysis of tourists' impressions is very important. One of the conventional approaches is to provide tourists with a questionnaire about sightseeing spots and their experiences there. However, the questionnaire has a problem, the memory of the interviewees tends to fade and detailed information cannot be retrieved. In this paper, we describe a novel approach to detect tourists' impression using information from their electroencephalogram (EEG). Since the developed system makes use of a portable EEG device, it enables impression detection even if the subject is walking. In order to confirm the validity of the proposed system, we carried out a real-world experience of the typical sightseeing spots.