Application of Virtual Reality to Assess Visual, Thermal Perception, and Users’ Physiological Responses in Building: A Multivariate Analysis
摘要
Human comfort is a critical aspect in the indoor environment which is influenced by multisensory interactions between stimuli. The combined interactions of stimuli affect the perception of comfort. A survey was designed to elicit information from users in an experimental study. The experiment was conducted for various thermal conditions under two visual scenarios in VR. 144 valid responses were gathered throughout the study. This study utilized a multivariate analysis to understand the relationship between observed variables and dependent variables. The results indicate that an increase in temperature positively impacts thermal comfort, while visual scenario and age negatively impact thermal comfort. On the other hand, visuals had a negative impact on visual perception, while demographics of users such as age, gender, BMI, ethnicity, and environmental conditions, i.e., air temperature and relative humidity were not significant. In conclusion, for cross-modal effects, moderating factors, i.e., heart rate do not have a significant influence on both perceptions. However, for the same modal effects, there was a significant moderating effect of heart rate on thermal perception, while there was no significant moderating effect on visual perception. The findings provide insight and valuable information to assist designers and building managers in creating comfortable indoor environmental spaces. Further studies can be done for more generalization of the comfort model, this can apply to wider groups and multiple age groups.