Human experience in the natural and built environment : implications for research policy and practice

22nd IAPS conference. Edited book of abstracts. 427 pp. University of Strathclyde, Sheffield and West of Scotland Publication. ISBN: 978-0-94-764988-3

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Face-to-Face and Virtual Communication: Overcoming the Challenges

Virtual communication has become the norm for many organizations (Baltes, Dickson, Sherman, Bauer, & LaGanke, 2002; Bergiel, Bergiel, & Balsmeier, 2008; Hertel, Geister, & Konradt, 2005). As technology has evolved, time and distance barriers have dissolved, allowing for access to experts worldwide. The reality of business today demands the use of virtual communication for at least some work, and many professionals will sit on a virtual team at some point (Dewar, 2006). Although virtual communication offers many advantages, it is not without challenges. This article examines the costs and benefits associated with virtual and face-to-face communication, and identifies strategies to overcome virtual communication\u27s challenges

Virtual technologies in supporting sustainable consumption : From a single-sensory stimulus to a multi-sensory experience

Virtual technologies will change the way we consume in the digital environment in the future. Such technologies can provide consumers with a multi-sensory experience in contrast to the single-sensory stimulus in the conventional online environment. As human senses play a key role in consumption choices, we argue that virtual technologies provide greater opportunities to influence consumer decisions than the present digital environment. Consequently, we suggest that virtual technologies can potentially be used to nudge consumers towards sustainable consumption. We discuss technology-assisted sensory marketing, present the cognitive and emotive aspects of virtual reality, and propose applications of virtual reality technologies to encourage sustainable consumption. Our opinion paper concludes that virtual technologies are likely to change many aspects of human life and can have significant positive effects on the environment and climate change.© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).This work has been supported by KAUTE Foundation under Grant No. 20190003 and No. 20200531; OP Ryhmän Tutkimussäätiö ounder Grant No. 20200040, Academy of Finland under Grant No. 311346, Academy of Finland SRC CULT Programme under Grant No. 327241 (Digiconsumers) and Academy of Finland Flagship Programme under Grant No. 337653 (Forest-Human-MachineInterplay (UNITE)).fi=vertaisarvioimaton|en=nonPeerReviewed

Too Hot to Handle: An Evaluation of the Effect of Thermal Visual Representation on User Grasping Interaction in Virtual Reality

Influence of interaction fidelity and rendering quality on perceived user experience have been largely explored in Virtual Reality (VR). However, differences in interaction choices triggered by these rendering cues have not yet been explored. We present a study analysing the effect of thermal visual cues and contextual information on 50 participants' approach to grasp and move a virtual mug. This study comprises 3 different temperature cues (baseline empty, hot and cold) and 4 contextual representations; all embedded in a VR scenario. We evaluate 2 different hand representations (abstract and human) to assess grasp metrics. Results show temperature cues influenced grasp location, with the mug handle being predominantly grasped with a smaller grasp aperture for the hot condition, while the body and top were preferred for baseline and cold conditions

Virtual geographic environments in socio-environmental modeling: a fancy distraction or a key to communication?

Modeling and simulation are recognized as effective tools for management and decision support across various disciplines; however, poor communication of results to the end users is a major obstacle for properly using and understanding model output. Visualizations can play an essential role in making modeling results accessible for management and decision-making. Virtual reality (VR) and virtual geographic environments (VGEs) are popular and potentially very rewarding ways to visualize socio-environmental models. However, there is a fundamental conflict between abstraction and realism: models are goal-driven, and created to simplify reality and to focus on certain crucial aspects of the system; VR, in the meanwhile, by definition, attempts to replicate reality as closely as possible. This elevated realism may add to the complexity curse in modeling, and the message might be diluted by too many (background) details. This is also connected to information overload and cognitive load. Moreover, modeling is always associated with the treatment of uncertainty–something difficult to present in VR. In this paper, we examine the use of VR and, specifically, VGEs in socio-environmental modeling, and discuss how VGEs and simulation modeling can be married in a mutually beneficial way that makes VGEs more effective for users, while enhancing simulation models

Communicating Sustainability with Visuals: Issue Perception and Issue Engagement

Today the list of environmental disasters threatening lives and natural resources has expanded to include many causes. Even though sustainable solutions have never been so urgent, public still issues low priority to many of these serious threats. Many impacts of environmental deprivation, such as coastal land loss, are invisible to the untrained eye, causing individuals to distance themselves psychologically from the risks. The slow pace of environmental degradation constitutes one of the biggest challenges in sustainability communication. The success of sustainable development will require the public to undergo a significant shift in thinking about environmental issues. This dissertation systemically investigates the influence of visual imagery on how people perceive environmental change. It explores visuals’ ability to influence issue urgency, issue importance, issue engagement, and issue salience. The relationship between these variables is investigated in a sequential and mixed-method format that involves content analysis and focus group discussions Results, which were interpreted in the context of the Visual Perception Model, suggested that affect and cognition influences one another to shape environmental perceptions. Particularly, images that incorporate hypothetical future scenarios are more likely to convey the urgency and importance of an issue. While images with an added affective component (positive and negative cues) make messages more engaging, they can also reduce motivation to take action. Willingness to support environmental solutions appears to be a result of public’s ability to visualize short-term goals and successes

Drones, Virtual Reality, and Modeling: Communicating Catastrophic Dam Failure

Dam failures occur worldwide and can be economically and ecologically devastating. Communicating the scale of these risks to the general public and decision-makers is imperative. Two-dimensional (2D) dam failure hydraulic models inform owners and floodplain managers of flood regimes but have limitations when shared with non-specialists. This study addresses these limitations by constructing a 3D Virtual Reality (VR) environment to display the 1976 Teton Dam disaster case study using a pipeline composed of (1) 2D hydraulic model data (extrapolated into 3D), (2) a 3D reconstructed dam, and (3) a terrain model processed from UAS (Uncrewed Airborne System) imagery using Structure from Motion photogrammetry. This study validates the VR environment pipeline on the Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset with the criteria: immersion fidelity, movement, immersive soundscape, and agreement with historical observations and terrain. Through this VR environment, we develop an effective method to share historical events and, with future work, improve hazard awareness; applications of this method could improve citizen engagement with Early Warning Systems. This paper establishes a pipeline to produce a visualization tool for merging UAS imagery, Virtual Reality, digital scene creation, and sophisticated 2D hydraulic models to communicate catastrophic flooding events from natural or human-made levees or dams

VSimulators:A New UK-based Immersive Experimental Facility for Studying Occupant Response to Wind-induced Motion of Tall Buildings

Current vibration serviceability assessment criteria for wind-induced vibrationsin tall buildings are based largely on human ‘perception’ thresholds which is shown not to be directly translatable to human ‘acceptability’ of vibrations. There is also a considerable debate about both the metrics and criteria for vibration acceptability, such as frequency of occurrence or peak vs mean vibration, and how these might vary with the nature of the vibration. Furthermore, the design criteria are necessarily simplified for ease of application so cannot account for a range of environmental, situational and human factors that may enhance or diminish the impact of vibrations on serviceability. The dual-site VSimulatorsfacility was created specifically to provide an experimental platform to address gaps in understanding of human response to building vibration. This paper considers how VSimulators can be used to inform general design guidance and support design of specific buildings for habitability, in terms of vibration, which allow engineers and clients to make informed decisions with regard to sustainable design, in terms of energy and financial cost. This paper first provides a brief overview of current vibration serviceability assessment guidelines, and the current understanding and limitations of occupants’ acceptability of wind-induced motion in tall buildings. It then describes how the dual-site VSimulators facility at the Universities of Bath and Exeter can be used to assess the effects of motion and environment on human comfort, wellbeing and productivity with examples of how the facility capabilities have been used to provide new, human experience based experimental research approaches

Designing the printed book as an interactive environment

Reading a book demands a certain level of interaction from the reader. The cover must be opened and pages turned to navigate the information inside. Conventions have been developed over the life of the book to assist the reader in this navigation and provide orientation. The evolution of electronic reading material has given readers greater opportunities for interacting with their reading material, but many readers still prefer reading from a printed book. This paper investigates how the interactive organizational paradigm of hypertext can be implemented in a printed book to give the reader the opportunity for greater interaction and benefit from some of the advantages that electronic reading environments provide. The investigation in this paper follows an iterative design process in consultation with a panel of four experts. Through four rounds of consultation and refinement two potential solutions were developed for the incorporation of hypertext methods in a printed book

Environment 2.0 : the 9th Biennial Conference on Environmental Psychology, 26-28 September 2011, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

On behalf of the Environmental Psychology Division of the German Association of Psychology, the 9th Biennial International Conference on Environmental Psychology is organized by the Human-Technology Interaction (HTI) group of the School of Innovation Sciences of the Eindhoven University of Technology. The HTI group is internationally acclaimed for perception research, and has become established as a major centre of excellence in human-technology interaction research. Bringing together psychological and engineering expertise, its central mission is investigating and optimizing interactions between people, systems, and environments, in the service of a socially and ecologically sustainable society