Capturing Affect in Architectural Visualization: A Case for integrating 3-dimensional visualization and psychophysiology

Envisioning architectural experience afforded by a building under design has been difficult due to two reasons. One is simulating the space in full scale, eliminating the need to take a mental leap commonly required of abstract smaller scale representations. Second challenge is in fully capturing the affective experience, which is often subtle in nature. This paper suggests that 3-dimensional visualization-particularly immersive virtual reality can overcome the first challenge. In addition, psychophysiological measures such as facial electromyography (EMG) and electrodermal activity (EDA) can be used to capture the affective component of the architectural experience. We suggest that by taking advantage of these technologies together, one can better simulate and empirically understand the nature of architectural experience.