SensMap R package and SensMapGUI shiny web application for sensory and consumer data mapping: Variations on external preference mapping and stability assessment
Authors: Rebhi Ibtihel , Malouche Dhafer 
Published: January 2023

This work addresses the theory of External Preference Mapping technique (EPM) that reliably gives a mapping of human perceptions' ratings considered as subjective data onto objective descriptions generally obtained from measurable analytic data. An R package named SensMap is made available to facilitate the adoption of the EPM technique in different research fields and to propose, in addition to classical features, advanced strategies for map visualization and its stability enhancement. The novelty of SensMap is to provide options in sensory space dimension reduction methods as well as options in consumers' likings prediction models based on sensory descriptors. The fitting quality of these models can be evaluated using several information criteria. Moreover, SensMap provides a methodology to quantify and assess the stability of preference maps from different employed strategies using a computational algorithm that consists in calculations of distances between maps based on resampling approach. A small part in this paper was devoted to evaluate the efficiency of the implemented stability approach by a simulation study and by application to real data from food science field. To make easier the conduction of the multiple types of analysis without requiring high programming knowledge, a very intuitive Graphical User Interface named SensMapGUI is implemented on the SensMap package. It is an R‐developed shiny web‐tool that produces results and graphics quickly and efficiently. The tool is made available at the following address https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/SensMap/index.html and is dedicated for all sensory practitioners and can be widely used by researchers who need subjective to objective data mapping.

Practical Applications

Researchers and practitioners frequently require to understand human behaviors by measuring their perceptions and searching for the factors that drive their opinions. The SensMap R package is made available to provide a data visualization map, to allow different analysis strategies and to make available a selection process of the best mapping. The tool can be used through the free and open‐access R software by all sensory scientists and practitioners. SensMap will be regularly updated to allow for changes in dependent R packages and will continue to add new features about mapping. The novelty of the package consists in his incorporation of a nicely designed and easily accessible graphical interface named SensMapGUI that hides all technical complexities for the non‐R users. It is a web‐tool once implemented on line can be used on any device like tablets, iOS applications and Android without need to tedious coding. The tool can also be used by all researchers who need to establish a relationship between subjective and objective data. It can serve in some many investigations such as the evaluation of human state of stress by analogy with their electro‐dermal activity measurements, the explanation of old persons hearing ratings toward road noise on the basis of traffic sound measurements data, the evaluation of consumers' preferences toward some products in the market, etc.