VP Lab – Multi-sensory stimuli to influence thermal comfort in order to reduce energy consumption

Autori del contributo

Francesco Ferrise, Giulia Wally Scurati

Sustainable development goals

Temi

Thermoregulation of buildings

Tools

Multisensory stimuli
Immersive virtual reality

What does the promoted behavioral change consist of?

Modification consists in the decrease of energy consumption due to the thermoregulation of buildings. This occurs through sensory stimulations that can influence the perception of comfort, in particular thermal comfort, with an impact on the need to increase or decrease the temperature inside buildings.

Visual stimulations (specifically the use of coloured lights) can change the perception of thermal comfort in rooms to such an extent that people’s behaviour (e.g. the choice to put on or take off clothing) is altered. Consequently, they could influence people’s choices in regulating the temperature inside buildings.

What are the main features of the tools designed/implemented to promote behavioral change and how have they been tested?

The tools designed in collaboration with a psychology team from Bicocca University and the University of Brescia consist of integrating visual and olfactory stimuli to modify the perception of thermal comfort and designing virtual reality environments representing neutral building interiors.

In particular, colours have temperature-related characteristics, in fact we define warm and cold colours according to the natural elements they recall. Smells can recall experiences associated with hot or cold sensations.

Virtual reality allows testing with reduced costs and time compared to testing in real environments, requiring only the set-up of tools (visors, olfactory displays) and the creation of immersive environments (so it is not necessary to set-up and dedicate several physical environments to testing).

What results have been achieved? What are the potentials and obstacles?

Different stimuli were compared by testing them in immersive virtual environments. The tests confirmed results previously obtained from other studies on the use of coloured lights, allowing the use of virtual reality as a testing tool to be validated. Specifically, warm shades (yellow and red) give the impression that the environment is warmer than cold shades. These effects are common to participants of different gender and nationality and are therefore not influenced by the culture of the subjects, despite the fact that colours have different cultural meanings.

Possible criticism is that the use of coloured light is not always compatible with visual comfort, particularly in the working environment, and some colours may also have undesirable effects on people’s concentration and mood. The use of less saturated colours (tending towards white) needs further experimentation to verify its effectiveness, just as the synergic effect of visual and olfactory stimuli remains to be verified.

[last update: 08/01/2021]

Research team at PoliMi

Francesco Ferrise, Giulia Wally Scurati – DMEC

Publications

Scurati, G. W., Etzi, R., Huang, S., Graziosi, S., Tagliabue, L. C., Alberto, G., … & Bordegoni, M. (2019). Exploring the use of color lights on the perception of indoor climate for energy efficiency in Virtual Reality. In Aspetti umani e comportamentali nella prestazione energetica degli edifici 51° CONVEGNO INTERNAZIONALE/51st AiCARR International Conference (pp. 1-10).

Tagliabue, L. C., Scurati, G. W., Massetti, G., Etzi, R., Huang, S., Ferrise, F., … & Ciribini, A. L. C. (2019). Testing multisensory stimuli to drive thermal comfort and space perception using VR/AR: A design strategy to achieve energy saving. 1(1).

Huang, S., Scurati, G. W., Etzi, R., Alberto, G., Tagliabue, L. C., Graziosi, S., … & Bordegoni, M. (2019). Effects of Coloured Ambient Light on Perceived Temperature for Energy Efficiency: A Preliminary Study in Virtual Reality. In Lens-the Learning Network on Sustainability (pp. 1-6).

VP Lab – Multi-sensory stimuli to influence thermal comfort in order to reduce energy consumption

Autori del contributo

Sustainable development goals

Temi

Tools

What does the promoted behavioral change consist of?

What are the main features of the tools designed/implemented to promote behavioral change and how have they been tested?

What results have been achieved? What are the potentials and obstacles?

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