The implementation of environmental satisfaction sources in the design of a health centre is a means to achieve stress reduction. The present work analyses the effect that these sources have on the stress reduction of patients' companions in a paediatric service. A two-phase study was carried out. During the first phase, 120 participants assessed 20 waiting rooms in situ in order to select the environmental sources with the greatest effect. During the second phase, the stress levels of 26 participants were measured in four simulated waiting rooms that combined the selected sources from the first phase. A multisensory simulation was carried out through a virtual reality experiment with visual, auditory and olfactory elements, and stress levels were measured at the psychological and neurophysiological levels. Results suggest that a combination of environmental satisfaction sources creates an important synergistic effect at the psychological and neurophysiological levels and underlines the importance of auditory and olfactory stimuli. Conclusions may be of interest to designers and managers of healthcare facilities.

Classroom design influences the cognitive processes that determine learning. However, the effects of classroom geometry have been little studied, in part due to the difficulty of modifying physical spaces for experimental purposes. Today, virtual reality allows researchers to very closely control many environmental conditions while collecting psychological and neurophysiological metrics of the user experience. The objective of the present study is to analyse the influence of classroom width on the attention and memory performance of university students. The performance of 90 subjects in three classroom width settings (8.80m, 8.20m, and 7.60m), implemented in virtual reality, was evaluated through measures of their attention-and memory-related psychological and neurophysiological responses. The results showed that wider classrooms are associated with poorer performance and lower emotional arousal. This demonstrates a link between the geometric variables of classrooms and the cognitive and physiological responses of students. In general, the present study and its methodology can help architects and researchers develop design guidelines that can improve students' cognitive processes.

Results provide design recommendations of interest and show the possibilities offered by combining both systems to analyze user response.

Currently many real estate developers offer their products through their websites. The aim of this medium is not only to facilitate understanding of the building, but also to capture the attention of potential customers, provoking feelings and emotions that influence the purchase decision, especially in the case of off-plan property sales. Understanding the cognitive factors behind customers' evaluation processes prior to a purchase is of great interest for defining successful design criteria. The interior space of the property is one of the most important aspect in users' purchase decisions. The paper aims to determine which property design elements in floor plans provoke the emotions users use to describe its interior design. A field study was carried out on a sample of 75 individuals who evaluated a set of images of real estate promotions. The results show that the landings and corridors are fundamental; the area must be spacious so that larger surface areas score best; the living room must be well differentiated from the bedrooms; the valuation of the space depends on the graphic form of presentation, the use of warm colours and the degree of detail in the plans has a positive influence on the assessment. This information may be of great interest for architects and designers in the graphic representation of the space.

Space influences our cognitive-emotional state. In teaching spaces, with a considerable effect on performance. Many design variables are involved. Among them, geometry has been traditionally less explored despite its usual prominence in design, due to the complexity of its modification in existing physical classrooms. However, today this can be addressed through the use of virtual reality. This was the objective of the present study: to contribute to the study of the cognitive effect of different geometry parameters applied in a university classroom. It was tackled through a laboratory field study carried out with 80 university students. The geometry variable was studied through two parameters: ceiling heigh (3 settings) and width (3 settings) of the university classroom. The 9 combinations were implemented in a virtual reality. The cognitive effect was explored through memory and attention performances. Both of them, quantified through auditory psychological tasks: the former, using a list of words to memorize; and the latter, using a computer program to measure reaction times and errors. Analyses indicate that memory and attention can be affected by some of the geometry parameters. This suggests that they may be especially relevant in the design of university classrooms, which is of interest to the different agents involved in the university classroom project and design.