Subjective and Physiological Responses towards Interior Natural Lightscape: Influences of Aperture Design, Window Size and Sky Condition

Abstract

Indoor daylighting quality has impacts on occupants’ physical and psychological aspects. Although daylighting design metrics have strictly restricted the amount of sunlight penetration, studies have shown occupants’ preference towards an appropriate amount of sunlight and distributions. Currently, insufficient studies have focused on the composition of interior daylighting distributions. Therefore, this paper presents a laboratory experiment exploring the psychological influences of sunlight patterns under immersive virtual reality scenes. The sunlight patterns are created by a combination of nine aperture designs, two window sizes and two sky types. The experiment collects 41 valid architecture students’ assessments and their physiological responses. Degrees of eight adjectives, including pleasantness, calmness, interest, excitement, complexity, spaciousness, satisfaction with exterior view amount and brightness, are rated by the participants. Physiological data of heart rates and electroencephalogram are collected. According to the analysis, both the aperture designs and sky types have influences upon subjective responses. The large window enhances beta oscillations and beta power on the right prefrontal lobe area, and the clear sky attenuates the theta rhythm on the pre frontal lobe areas. These findings indicate the important influence of natural lightscape compositions created by aperture designs and sky types upon occupants’ psychological processes.

Indoor Environmental Quality and Occupant Comfort

“…Researchers have conducted studies on public buildings, such as offices [21], schools [22,23], shopping malls [24], hotels [25,26], and elderly facilities [27], by using a variety of methods, including field measurements, simulations, behavioral observations, questionnaires, and interviews, as well as tools such as virtual reality (VR) and electroencephalography (EEG). Some interesting findings deserve attention: interior natural lightscapes can influence physiological indicators [21], whereas colors can impact emotional indicators [22,25]. These findings potentially provide supporting data for further developments in the therapeutic effects of indoor environments on health.…”

Status of Typical Artificial Lighting Environments in Different Public Buildings in China, and Requirements for Their Improvement

“…Earlier evaluations focused on objective factors such as illuminance, brightness, and CCT [44,45]. Researchers employed one-way and multivariate analyses of variance to explore the effects of these factors on occupants' perceptions of luminous environments [46]. More recent studies have primarily relied on user questionnaires to evaluate subjective components [47].…”

Psychological and Visual Perception of Campus Lightscapes Based on Lightscape Walking Evaluation: A Case Study of Chongqing University in China

“…The researchers also analyzed the relationship between acoustic perception and thermal comfort. Zhe Kong et al [15] conducted laboratory studies using nine different aperture designs, two window sizes, and two types of sky to investigate the significant impact of natural light composition on the cognitive processes of individuals.…”

“…Lightscape walking involves organized walking that allows individuals to focus on the visual aspects of a specific area. This activity effectively captures people's visual and psychological responses to the environment [15,24]. It also plays a crucial role in investigating people's perception of indoor and outdoor light comfort, shaping their spatial awareness, and conveying cultural meanings.…”

“…It also plays a crucial role in investigating people's perception of indoor and outdoor light comfort, shaping their spatial awareness, and conveying cultural meanings. In addition, according to previous studies, the design of the campus lightscapes should adhere to various principles including humanism, functionality, aesthetics, sustainability, and safety [15,25,26].…”