Perception of Multisensory Wind Representation in Virtual Reality

International audienceThe set of physical and sensitive phenomena that interacts with the urban morphology acts on the resulting perception from the users of a place. Its study and representation provides elements beyond the aesthetics aspects that can allow a better understanding of the space and future urban projects. We aim to analyze the effects of three different wind representations in terms of perception and sense of presence in virtual reality (VR). We focus on the following conditions: (R) reference scene with the audiovisual representation of the mechanical effects of the wind on the elements of the context, (V) reference scene plus the visualization of the wind flow, present (among others) in the architecture field, (T) reference scene plus tactile restitution of wind and eventually (V+T) assembling all previous conditions. For the experiment, we present to the participants (R), then (V) followed by (T), and finish with (V+T). 37 participants evaluated 12 different stop points (divided into four routes in the same simulated street), where they had to determine the perceived wind force and direction concerning the four different conditions (each one corresponding to one route). At the end of each route, participants evaluated their sense of presence in the VR scene. Our analysis showed significant effects of tactile restitution over the visual effects used in the study, both for understanding wind properties and for increasing the sense of presence in the VR scene. In terms of wind direction, (T) reduced the estimation error by 27% compared to (V). Concerning wind force, the reduction was 9.8%. As far as presence was concerned, (T) increased the sense of presence by 12.2% compared to (V)

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

Design criteria development for community centres and Manisa as a case study

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, City and Regional Planning, Izmir, 1999Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 120-121)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishviii, 128 leavesThe thesis examines the changes in the concept of community in regard to the effects of the contemporary world and concentrates on the concept of Community Centres as wide-spread uses in western societies and their development process in different countries. Researches indicate that, there is a strong tendency in establishing these centres in the western societies as a tool for the healthy development of the members of community both physically and psychologically. However in Turkey, we do not have such centres that enhance the social interaction among the members of community of different race religion, gender and social standings. In this respect, the main aim of the thesis is to develop a set of design criteria for Community Centres appropriate to the social lives and habits of Turkish people and appropriate to the physical layout of Turkish cities. The methodology used in the thesis research may said to be composed of literature and internet surveys and interpretations based on past experiences. Key Words: Community Community Centres Design Criteria User Groups User Needs

Identifying Potential Indicators of Neighbourhood Solar Access in Urban Planning

Solar access describes the capacity of urban spaces to receive sunlight and daylight. Rapid urbanization and unbridled densification pose a threat to sustainable solar access, reducing the penetration of sunlight and daylight into cities. To effectively assess solar access at such an early design stage, at the urban planning level, it is critical that evaluation metrics are simple and reliable. This paper examines a cross section of solar metrics, from simple to more complex ones, to find potential solar performance indicators for urban planning evaluations. The metric datasets were created based on iterations of homogeneous neighbourhood designs, based on the three commonest typologies in the Swedish context: courtyard, slab, and tower. The results were validated using case studies sampled from districts of Malmö. The findings indicate that simple geometrical and latitudinal metrics may be suitable for assessing the solar access of urban designs due to high correlation with built density. Potential performance indicators aimed at indoor and outdoor evaluation of daylighting (VSC, SVF) and sunlighting (ASH_F, RD_G) in urban planning stages were suggested. Possible methods of applying the provided metric database into assessments were proposed. Future work should find evidence-based thresholds for the metric values to establish performance benchmarks

Walkability in Dubai: Improving Thermal Comfort

In Dubai, the absurd dependence on air-conditioning in buildings and vehicles has led to sedentary lifestyles and a poor public realm in many outdoor spaces. The microclimatic conditions that have been impaired by the morphology of the built environment, reduced pedestrian comfort between buildings. Urban spaces depreciate for many months due to lack of pedestrians. The present thesis aimed to encourage what it calls walkability – the ability of a place to welcome people to walk– for longer periods every year. It focused on improving pedestrians’ overall thermal comfort and extending the distances that they could travel along their daily utilitarian journeys. Three main methods of fieldwork were applied to investigate the physical urban environment in two districts, namely Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) and The Greens. First, interviews were conducted with random passers-by along their everyday routes to the mosque, metro, office and school. These were conducted at different periods of the year and times of the day and were meant to identify the thermal comfort limits at such periods. Second, subjective assessments, consisting of thermal sensations and thermal comfort votes, were collected from six subjects over several days in the form of short walks at different times of the year. These helped to assess the influence of the successive changes endured on the thermal sensations and overall comfort. Third, data loggers were installed in four different spaces over a period of one year to identify the influence of urban morphology on the microclimatic parameters (air and globe temperatures and relative humidity). Finally, ENVI-met microclimatic simulations were run to analyse the urban district JLT and identify the hot spots likely to inhibit comfort. The findings of the fieldwork and simulation studies revealed the prospect for extending the distances that pedestrians tolerate walking outdoors, through improving their thermal sensation and comfort at certain areas along the journey described as the recovery conditions. The thesis proposes that allocating adequate shade and wind at frequent areas along the journey provides a psychological satisfaction and physical heat stress relief, which improves the overall comfort and encourages walkability. Proposed scenarios for such areas were modelled and tested using ENVI-met to show the improvements of the microclimate and comfort conditions that can be achieved at different times of the day and year

Art as integral part of architectural space

Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1993.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-97).To integrate art with architecture is the intention of every architect. However, many times other requirements overwhelm artistic potential. There are numerous good, simple examples in the history of architecture where solutions to a variety of often functional requirements have produced exceptional artistic expressions, which in tum have inspired contemporary architectural practice. Pre-industrial architecture not only responded to natural conditions in the environment; it employed all the senses as well ·. in its design of living environments. Today, unfortunately, we rarely find that architects pay attention to sound, smell, water, natural cycles, or, almost unimaginable, to time. Our technology encourages us to separate ourselves from nature. However, this same technology can help us to reintegrate ourselves with nature by designing better living environments. This thesis is, therefore, my way of rethinking design principles that shape the contemporary urban environment and often give it such a cold, formal image. My own philosophy of design is given in the introduction. The rest of the thesis is basically the supportive material, which further illuminates the ideas presented in the introduction. The first part discusses some general trends in contemporary society in order to place my own view of design within a broader context, while the second part lists numerous examples from the history of architecture and art to illustrate and further my philosophy. At the end, in the appendix, I present one of my own projects, the Interactive Water Curtain, to concretely show some of the implications of my aesthetics. Through this work I hope to illustrate the richness of various traditional architectural practices that take advantage of sound, water, time (celestial movement), fragrances, and even living creatures in designing places. I hope this will stimulate creative thinking about using not just visual effects in the design of our living environment, but employing acoustic, olfactory, astronomical, ecological, and kinesthetic design in order to create sensually richer and more pleasant environments where people can live in harmony with nature and other living creatures.by Marta Vahtar.M.S.V.S

Ecology, culture and cognition: a text book on the principles of environmental design

[This] study aims to explore the notion that human achievements, i.e., cultural, technological, architectural, etc., are an outcome of the interaction between ecology, culture and cognitive structure. Such interaction is thought to set out a condition of stability, compatibility and fitness which characterises various vernacular cultures. These notions ought to be investigated and hence utilised in design ideas and design processes. To illustrate the various aspects of this interaction, the thesis has adopted a holistic view which incorporates many elements that underly the environmental phenomena; its structure, its laws of evolution and its adaptive processes. The following is a brief summary of each chapter of the thesis.Chapter One: In any design research it is more important to arrive at appropriate identification of a problem before being preoccupied with 'assumptions' to solve that problem on the basis of its 'external' appearance. Each environment has a specific structure which accommodates in a certain pattern its various components such as the social boundaries of interaction, the particular physical structure, building patterns, behaviour, mode of thought, economic system and so on. It is only by tracing the history of development of each of these components within this structure that a solution can be fitting and relevant.The chapter reviews some problems and controversies raised by adopting a misfit technology and its implication on various cultures as well as on Architecture.Chapter Two: This chapter suggests a general theoretical framework which rejects the harmful and unifying effects of those 'fragmented' approaches within design disciplines. In fact they came as an outcome of the passion for misfit technologies, the non - environmental views of culture and ideologies normally associated with them. It is hence the interplay of the three elements of Ecology, Culture and Cognition that result in architectural quality most fit to its context. The objectives of such a framework are: the protection of the natural ecosystems and their manifestations in design; the establishment of a self - sustaining way of life; and finally, setting policies that give priority to bettering the ecological qualities as a basis for improving other aspects.Chapter Three: In this chapter a broadening perspective is introduced to define ecology according to its concerns for the conditions and interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organism in a certain setting. The perspective includes culture as well as the other biological and physical factors on the basis of considering culture as a manifestation of man's adaptation to that setting. It is very important to consider the role of ecology in differentiating various societies; their cultures and architectural forms.Chapter Four: The second element, culture, according to the school of cultural- ecology, is made up of the modes of thought, the ideologies, energy systems, artifacts, the organisation of social relations, norms and beliefs and the total range of customary behaviour, all of which have been influenced by the physical setting. The concept of 'cultural core', introduced by J. Steward, is adopted for its importance in distinguishing cultural features in terms of their physical belonging. It helps, hence, to advocate solutions more fitting to their 'authentic context' in the face of the bustling, overlapping and usually more abstract cultural features of the external phase (secondary features).Chapter Five: Knowledge is the central element in design, and cognition has been defined as the activity of knowing: the acquisition, organisation, and use of knowledge. The human cognitive structure selects and interprets environmental information in the construction of its own knowledge, rather than passively copying the information. The mind does this to make the environment 'then' fit in with its own existing mental framework.Chapter Six: Because man and nature form two elements in one system, man has accumulated a profound knowledge of the various elements in nature including natural materials. This knowledge is x embeded so deeply in his psychological structure that his innate disposition towards natural elements has been extended to include all interactional modes, subsystems and visual structures which they initiate.The concept of schemata was introduced within cognitive psychology to explain some controversial issues in the field of accepting, restoring and processing information. Schema is defined generally as a data structure for representing the generic concepts stored in memory. There are schemata representing our knowledge about events, actions, objects, etc. They also contain the network of interrelations between these concepts. It has been suggested that the source of this knowledge which schema represents comes from one of two resources; 1) immediate information of the physical objects, 2) the innate and stored knowledge in the human mind. Both resources, however, can provide information to what the study calls experiential schemata.The important contribution the study offers is the concept of the cosmocognitive schemata. They are the schemata that represent the point where both organism and the universe meet and represent, man's extension in space and time. With these schemata we can explain many phenomena in which people of totally different cultures, different experiential schemata, respond and react similarly. In other words, the various authentic capacities of objects, their various properties and potential dispositions towards interactions are all taking precedence in the organism's neural system.The concluding notion of this important chapter is that man has been vividly and maybe unself- consciously utilising the 'cosmocognitive' knowledge in the adaptational processes, blended with activities of the experiential knowledge, in the elaboration of the various architectural forms and patterns. Therefore, it is suggested that it is extremely important to establish a theory of environmental quality based on cognitive knowledge.Chapter Seven and Chapter Eight: In these two chapters, the study introduces the most influential factors which define the ecological setting in general. These factors are considered as being the permanent constructs of human cognitive knowledge and hence have to be well studied before making any decision concerning the nature of the design solution proposed to any society.Chapter Nine: It is suggested that the influence of ecology and nature on human beings takes place and is utilised over long processes of adaptation. The mechanism and other elements of these processes are explicitly demonstrated through a model that the study elaborates. The main idea this model presents is that man, during the emergence of his settlement, initially responds to nature and the physical properties of that setting. He first develops prototypical patterns to embody their impact, according to which he then develops his social and behavioural patterns. Out of the interaction of these components and their various elements, and by reference to his experiential and innate knowledge, he then establishes his traditional culture of which architectural phenomena is the most conspicuous feature.Chapter Ten: Beyond the aesthetic values of architecture: decorative form and ornaments, and beyond the persistance of architectural pattern and activity types lie empirical, structural, functional and practical principles. The basic aim of arriving at a concrete understanding of what underlies the aesthetic characteristics is that once such an understanding becomes possible, designers would be able to manipulate their design ideas following the same principles of authenticity and purposefulness rather than attempting further implication or inventing more fantasies.The title implies that material's authentic properties, architectural and structural elements and activities have cognitive values which are represented in certain characteristics. And it is these values that a designer whould, in fact, search for, if satisfying people's real preferences is one of his interests.Chapter Eleven: The outcome of the interaction between ecological /cultural variables and cognitive structure consists of several components. These have to be carefully matched in setting design criteria within any context: They can be referred to in any judgement over the fitness and appropriateness of any design idea in hand

Designing atmospheres : research and design for thermal comfort in Dutch urban squares

Onderzoek naar de inrichting en verblijfskwaliteit van stadspleinen. Het onderzoek omvat een empirisch gedeelte waarin metingen en interviews op Nederlandse stadspleinen zijn verricht. Daarnaast bevat de studie een ‘ontwerpend onderzoek’ . Dit hield in dat verschillende alternatieven voor een optimaler microklimaat zijn ontworpen en deze met microklimaatsimulaties zijn getest. De resultaten van dit onderzoek vormen gemakkelijk toepasbare ontwerprichtlijnen die ook door de ontwerpers van Nederlandse stadspleinen gebruikt kunnen worden.