The building industry and the design of interior environments are increasingly focusing on the user experience, incorporating sensory analysis to reconsider how office environments can be optimized. New immersive technologies offer significant opportunities for sensory science, enhancing our understanding of human perception and enabling the collection of multi-sensory data under controlled laboratory conditions. While the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) for these types of studies is well recognized, certain limitations still need to be addressed, including the lack of standardized research practices and the challenge of ensuring the simulated environment closely mirrors the real world. In this study, we compare 360° and 3D formats, to real-life settings in order to determine which format offers greater ecological validity for visual perception and immersion. Additionally, we examine the effects of vibroacoustic stimuli with different levels of intensity on perception and cognition of 30 participants. Subjective, physiological and cognitive data was collected throughout the test to tackle the participant's experience. This preliminary study introduces an immersive methodology that leverages advanced techniques to gain deeper insights into multisensory user experience in VR, marking a significant step forward in the optimization of VR for building evaluation.

This demo’s objective is to display how simulated environments can be used in the evaluation of work-related indoor environments compared to physical environments. In fact, in indoor environment evaluations, Virtual Reality (VR) offers new possibilities for experimental design as well as a functional rapprochement between the laboratory and real life. With VR, environmental parameters (e.g light, color, furniture...) can be easily manipulated at reasonable costs, allowing to control and guide the user’s sensorial experience. One main challenge is to acknowledge to which extent simulated environments are ecologically valid and which functions would be more solicited in different environmental-simulation display formats. User-centric evaluation and sensory analysis in the building sector is in its beginning; this new tool could be of benefit for the building sector, on one hand for methodological facilitation purposes and on the other for cost reductions. In order to achieve the objectives of this project, a first step is to develop and validate the indoor simulations. In environmental simulations, one of the most used formats, for its visual realism and ease of use are 360° panoramic photos and videos, which permits capturing physical-world images. In an objective of validation of the format, 360° photos of workplaces were taken in the building of Halle 6 Ouest of Nantes University and an immersive and interactive test based on physiological indicators to subjectively and objectively assess comfort and performances in work offices was developed. The demo will comprise a head-mounted display with integrated eye-tracking and the measure of electrodermal activity, heart rate and galvanic skin response.

The building sector and the indoor environment conception is undergoing major changes. There is a need to reconsider the way offices are built from a user’s centric point of view. Research has shown the influence of perceived comfort and satisfaction on performance in the workplace. By understanding how multi-sensory information is integrated into the nervous system and which environmental parameters influence the most perception, it could be possible to improve work environments. With the emergence of new virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, the collection and processing of sensory information is rapidly advancing, moving forward more dynamic aspects of sensory perception. Through simulated environments, environmental parameters can be easily manipulated at reasonable costs, allowing control and guiding the user’s sensory experience. Moreover, the effects of contextual and surrounding stimuli on users can be easily collected throughout the test, in the form of physiological and behavioral data. Through the use of indoor simulations, this doctoral research goal is to develop a multi-criteria comfort scale based on physiological indicators under performance constraints. In doing this, it would be possible to define new quality indicators combining the different physical factors adapted to the uses and space. In order to achieve the objectives of this project, the first step is to develop and validate an immersive and interactive methodology for the assessment of multisensory information on comfort and performance in work environments.