How do we look at buildings? Eye-tracking is one of the tools we can use to understand how our brain directs our behavior in the built environment, without our awareness, more than most realize. Check out these talks, presented at Ux+Design/2023 conference at Tufts, in April, now on TheHapi.org’s Youtube channel:
These studies use state-of-the-art software from iMotions.com, a global purveyor of biometric tools for human behavioral research. They are co-sponsored by theHapi.org (the Human Architecture + Planning Institute) a nonprofit dedicated to understanding the human experience of the built environment and improving its design through education and research.
And, thank you to all participants for taking part this month; we look forward to having results out very soon, and sharing them widely!
For more info on this project and its ITDP, Adhoc Industries, and other sponsors, check out:
Aiming to increase ridership and improve the transit experience, the City of Chelsea, MA, engaged local artists and designers to add flowers and a new patterned walkway to a central MBTA bus stop.
“It’s not just about the functionality, but it’s also about creating an experience that’s joyful,” said Adrian Gill of Ad Hoc Industries, one of the leaders of the initiative, in The Boston Globe. “It is a fully immersive concept that we’ve created. It’s a very interactive environment.”
“It’s really kind of creating a bit of a destination spot at the bus shelter,” added project artist, Claudia Paraschiv, of Studioful Design.
The Human Architecture and Planning Institute, theHapi.org, contributed to the effort, using biometric tools to reveal the mechanisms behind why the artful interventions work.
A study with 3M’s Visual Attention Software, (VAS) which predicts where people look at-first-glance, shows how the bus stop before the intervention was likely ignored and how readily it comes into view with the added art and flower patterns. VAS displays results with four types of images, as shown below:
VAS-#1 Heatmap
Heatmaps glow brightest in areas that get the most attention, fading to blue in areas receiving less and then black in areas getting none. Note how sidewalk and roadway, at left, near the bus stop are almost all black, before intervention, and are less so, at right, after.
VAS-#2 Regions of Interest
The Regions of Interest (ROIs) diagrams, outlining in red where highest percentage of views likely fall, show attention goes to areas around the bus stop, rather than on it, before theintervention – and how things really do shift afterwards, with 72% of views falling directly on the bus stop with its added flower art.
VAS-#3 Areas of Interest
Area of Interest diagrams (AOIs), as shown below, drawn around specific areas to study, suggest how the artful bus stop draws attention away from the street light nearby. Before the intervention the street light attracted 76% of views and the bus stop only 60%; after the intervention, the bus stop gets 72% of views and street light views fall to 62%.
VAS-#4 Visual Sequence
Equally instructive, for understanding the project’s success, is checking out how the Visual Sequence diagram shifts before and after the installation.
Human visual perception happens in two phases; the first phase, during the first 3-to-5 seconds is driven by non-conscious visual processing triggered less than a second after we look at any ‘scene.’ VAS predicts how the brain has us take-in our surroundings in this first phase. Note, here, how the eyes focus around the bus stop rather than on it before the intervention, and directly on the bus stop after, with sequence 2 and 4 falling on the bus stop’s roof and bench.
It all goes to show how relevant it is to combine the arts and sciences. Good design acknowledges how humans work, and in our time, with access to remarkable tech, like 3M VAS, we now have the tools to help us do so, creating a happier, healthier pubic realm.
Thanks to the creative leadership team on this project including Boston Bus Rapid Transit initiative, ITDP,la Colaborativa, and City of Chelsea’s Public Works, for making the project happen and showing its possibilities.
Join us for an architectural PechaKucha event that explores the relationship between design and freedom. The event, over Zoom, was sponsored by improvscience.org, and part of a Freedom Festival, in honor of Juneteenth, that ran through July 4, 2023.
The 2nd International Urban Experience + Design Conference took place at Tufts on Friday, April 28th – a day-long event, open to all. Here’s the conference flyer, featuring a heat map that glows brightest where eyes rest most taking in the scene;
The conference was co-sponsored by theHapi.org, (the Human Architecture + Planning Institute), a nonprofit dedicated to understanding the human experience of the built environment and improving its design through education and research.
Full of energy and great ideas, the video here captures some of the energy in the room: https://youtu.be/gUsbkMwiJuE
These studies are sponsored by theHapi.org (the Human Architecture + Planning Institute) a nonprofit dedicated to understanding the human experience of the built environment and improving its design through education and research.
Anyone with a laptop or PC with webcam can take part; on a Mac, link to it from Google Chrome or Firefox (and it’s best to do so in a quiet space with minimal distraction.)
Once on site, the link directs you to eye-tracking calibration slides – where you simply focus on a shape as it moves across the screen – before image viewing begins. Each study concludes with a brief series of calibration slides, and takes a minute-or-two to upload your data.
And thank you for your participation; with your help we hope to improve understanding of how people experience the public realm!
These studies are sponsored by theHapi.org (the Human Architecture + Planning Institute) a nonprofit dedicated to understanding the human experience of the built environment and improving its design through education and research.
Your participation helps expand our understanding of how humans respond to the built environment and what we most need to see to be at our best.
Anyone with a laptop or PC with webcam can take part; on a Mac, link to it from Google Chrome or Firefox (and it’s best to do so in a quiet space with minimal distraction.)
Once on site, the link directs you to eye-tracking calibration slides – where you simply focus on a shape as it moves across the screen – before image viewing begins. Each study concludes with a brief series of calibration slides, and takes a minute-or-two to upload your data.
And thank you for your participation; with your help we hope to have results out next month!
These studies use state-of-the-art software from iMotions.com, a global purveyor of biometric tools for human behavioral research. They are sponsored by theHapi.org (the Human Architecture + Planning Institute) a nonprofit dedicated to understanding the human experience of the built environment and improving its design through education and research.
They can help give us important understanding of how humans evolved to take in our world – key understandings to have to build better places for people.
All studies out for analysis now; results should come in soon!
The talk reviews key biometric tools, including eye tracking and facial expression analysis, that provide ‘a new lens’ to understand the human experience of place and transform our understanding of what people need to see to be at their best.
These Studies use state-of-the-art eye-tracking and facial-expression-analysis software from iMotions.com, a global purveyor of biometric tools for human behavioral research. Once on site, the studies direct you to eye-tracking calibration slides – where you simply focus on a shape as it moves across the screen – before image viewing begins. Studies takes about 4 minutes in total, and conclude with a brief series of calibration slides. It then takes a minute-or-two to upload your collected data.
This research is sponsored by theHapi.org, a nonprofit dedicated to understanding the human experience of the built environment and improving its design through education and research. Feel free to reach out if you have questions, email: contact (at) theHapi.org.
The Genetics of Design 