Effect of Wall Texture on Perceptual Spaciousness of Indoor Space

Chong Wang, Wei Lu, Ryuzo Ohno and Zongchao Gu
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Chong Wang: School of Architecture and Art, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian City 116024, China
Wei Lu: School of Architecture and Art, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian City 116024, China
Ryuzo Ohno: Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
Zongchao Gu: School of Architecture and Art, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian City 116024, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: As the main place of people’s daily activities, indoor space (its size, shape, colors, material and textures, and so on) has important physical, emotional and health-based implications on people’s behavior and quality of life. Material texture is an integral part of architectural environment perception and quality evaluation, but the effect of material texture on perceptual spaciousness lacks the support of experimental data. This research examined the effects between different wall textures on the observer’s perception of spaciousness in indoor space, the influence of wall texture changes in different room sizes, and how the associational meaning of texture affects the degree of influence of wall texture on the spaciousness of indoor space. By using VR technology and the magnitude estimation (ME) analysis method, the authors found that the effect of wall texture on perceptual spaciousness varies depending on the wall material, and the textural effect is affected by room size. The perception of spaciousness is influenced by the observer’s associational meaning of material texture, and the influence of associational meaning of material texture varies contingent on the room size. In relatively small rooms, the objective aspect (such as hardness, surface reflectivity, texture direction and texture depth) of the wall texture has a significant impact on perceived space. In contrast, the effects of subjective aspects (such as affinity and ecology) become more pronounced in relatively larger rooms. This research makes up for the lack of material texture research in perceptual spaciousness, and provides a new way for the designer to choose materials for the design of a spatial scale.

Keywords: wall texture; perceptual spaciousness; indoor space; VR technology; ME (magnitude estimation) method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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