Regional Differences in the Perception of Daylit Scenes across Europe Using Virtual Reality. Part I: Effects of Window Size

ABSTRACT

The size of window openings is widely acknowledged as an important factor in our spatial perception. However, little is known about how the perception and preference of windows changes between countries, leaving a gap of knowledge regarding the applicability of research findings across latitudes. This article presents the outcomes of a study investigating regional differences in the perception of spaces with varying window size (small, medium, and large), space size (small and large), spatial context (working and social), and sky type (overcast and two types of clear sky). As the regional differences were the main studied factor, the study was performed in Norway, Switzerland, and Greece, representing northern, central, and southern European latitudes, respectively, and used virtual reality as a means to replicate the same experiment in different locations. In total, 406 participants evaluated eight spatial attributes using an 11-point Likert-type scale. Results indicated that regional differences could be observed in the participants’ responses, with significant differences in how pleasant and calm the space was perceived, found not only between participants in Greece and Norway in all the studied window sizes, but also between Greece and Switzerland for the medium and large windows, indicating that even small variations in latitude within Europe can affect the spatial perception. The findings of this study reveal that spaces with specific fenestration characteristics might not induce the same response across different latitudes in Europe, and thus, have important implications for daylighting and architectural design, which would motivate the use of region-specific parameters.

KEYWORDS:

• Regional differences
• window size
• perception
• daylight
• virtual reality

Acknowledgments

The study was a collaboration between the Light and Colour Centre at NTNU in Trondheim and the Laboratory of Integrated Performance in Design at EPFL in Switzerland. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of John Sølve Tyssedal and Christian Klöckner with help on the statistical analyses, Krzysztof Orleanski for helping with the technical equipment, and Einar Næss Jensen from the HPC group at NTNU for assisting with the renderings of the study providing high performance computer services. The authors would also like to show their gratitude to the Prof. Konstantinos-Alketas Oungrinis and the Transformable and Intelligent Environments Lab at the Technical University of Crete for their support in the conduction of the experiments in Greece.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no financial interests to declare.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by the VELUX Stiftung Foundation (Project 1022: “Identifying the Impact of Regional Differences on the Perceived Quality of Daylit Architectural Spaces: A Comparison Study across Different Latitudes.”), and by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Faculty of Architecture and Design;Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet.