Category Archives: Uncategorized

‘Seeing’ How We Actually Look at Buildings at ABX 2016

Interested in ‘seeing’ your brain subconsiously take in the buildings around you? Then come to our talk Thursday, November 17th, at 1 PM at the Boston Convention Center, part of the ABX 2016 Conference. We’ll be presenting eye-tracking research from our recent … Continue reading →

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We See Like an Animal…and that Matters

Eye-tracking tools can help us see how we look out on the world as an animal – and it can help us understand why some buildings catch our attention while others don’t and never will. Check out the photos below: … Continue reading →

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BSA Placemaking Network: Sept 26 Talk

The Biometrics of Placemaking: Why We Need Buildings to ‘See’ Us When:September 26, 2016 | 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Where: Boston Society of Architects (BSA) Space, 290 Congress St, Suite 200, Boston Info: This event is free w refreshments and open to all … Continue reading →

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Eye Tracking for ANFA 2016 conference

The Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA) hosts its fall conference, Connections: BridgeSynapses September 22-24 at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA. We’ll be sending along the poster below, the pilot-study of eye tracking Boston buildings, mentioned in a previous … Continue reading →

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How looking at Maggie can help us see Ourselves

In 1980, the psychologist Peter Thompson from the University of York published a one-page paper in the journal Perception, entitled “Margaret Thatcher: A new illusion.” In it he noted how psychologists know people struggle to read expressions on upside down … Continue reading →

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Planning for the Subconscious

We’re thrilled to announce Planning Magazine, the flagship publication of the American Planning Association (APA), made our article their cover story this month. The story’s below, here’s how they introduced it: “This month’s Planning Magazine probes below the surface with an … Continue reading →

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Putting Faces First

After eye tracking a photo of the young man below, we saw how compelling a face could be. Within 3/10 of a second, the 33 people in our pilot study focused on his eyes and mouth. They proceeded to go back and look … Continue reading →

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Inner Views: Your Brain on People

We see a space differently with people in the picture; our brain simply directs our attention towards them without any conscious effort on our part. On some level, we may know this, but now with eye-tracking technology we can really … Continue reading →

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Bostonians may be hard-wired to hate City Hall Plaza

The Boston Globe took note of our eye-tracking study this Sunday in an IDEAS article. Follow this link or read the article below. The design of Boston City Hall is a charged topic. Some people love it, others hate it, … Continue reading →

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How We Look at Buildings

When we look at buildings, what do we see first? What attracts us most? What grabs our attention? Last month, we began a pilot study exploring these questions at Boston’s Institute of Human Centered Design (IHCD) using an off-the-shelf ‘eye-tracker’ … Continue reading →

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