Healing spaces: neuroscience applied to interior design
A designer's job is to solve problems: to contemplate, examine and investigate, to unveil, to narrow down a possibility or need and to solve it. In short, he or she has the main task of transforming what surrounds us. In the case of the interior designer, his or her work focuses on devising or transforming the space in which we immerse ourselves and in which we interact most of our time.
Design, until recently, has focused on aesthetic functionality. Whether the designer made more or less good decisions was a matter of intuition, taste, style or preference. But what if the designer could interpret our subconscious about how a space makes us feel, what if he or she could design a space based on emotions or perceptions that we ourselves are not even aware of or can verbalise?
This is precisely what neuroscience applied to interior design does. The designer hacks our brain to extract and interpret biometrics that give him information about which spaces we feel safer in, which ones bring us more pleasure, where we can concentrate better, etc.
A better understanding of what happens in our brain, especially at an unconscious level, can promote the design of spaces that have a beneficial impact on our lives. Aspects such as the understanding of the survival instinct, emotions or brain plasticity make this application of neuroscience to interior design an efficient tool to promote the physical and mental health of its users.
"Hacking the brain to find the ideal space
There are several ways to get inside the brain and find out the impact of design on our perception, emotions or attention and learning capacity. We could study the impact virtually, i.e. with a screen or augmented reality glasses; or through a real stimulus, in a concrete and tangible space. The two approaches to brain hacking, both virtual and real, collect neurophysiological and psychological responses that combine to better understand how people react depending on the design of the interior spaces we experience.
In virtual laboratories, a space is simulated (either on video or still image), in a controlled manner, and data is collected on how the person observing that space feels. For this recording of our unconscious part, neuroscience knowledge is applied and neurophysiological data is obtained at rest, such as heart rate, sweating, brain activity or the places where the gaze is focussed.
These data are translated into metrics that provide quantifiable values of how a person feels depending on the design of a given space. Such tests provide more objective and reliable information than simply asking someone directly how they feel in that space.
The analysis in a real environment is also done in a controlled manner, and as in the virtual environment, certain variables are modified and neurophysiological data is collected from the people who experience that space. The main difference is that, although it is also a simulation, this environment is constructed and can be perceived in situ, and therefore the data is collected in movement. In other words, it is a full-scale laboratory, where you can experience in real time what is happening.
Full-scale laboratories
One example is the Well Living Lab, created in 2016 in Minnesota. It was the first R&D centre focused on people and understanding the interaction between health, wellness and indoor environments. A perfect example of this is a recent study on healthy ageing where they analyse the effects of light on circadian rhythms, mood, sleep, cognition and social connectivity.
The key to obtaining reliable results is to correctly isolate the study variables (light, colour, shapes, distribution, etc.). This is more complicated and expensive to do in a real space, which is why there are very few laboratories like the Well Living Lab. Most of the research centres and universities that try to understand how people react to different design variables are carried out through virtual reality.
The very concept of how the indoor environment affects psychological processes and well-being seems novel. But this interest in the impact of the space and objects around us is not so new; it has been explored in the past by doctors, psychologists, architects and designers. Until recently, however, these professionals approached the issue independently.
In neuroscience studies applied to interior design, we work in an integrated manner, with multidisciplinary teams: designers, engineers with a background in construction and the environment, experts in cognitive psychology and psychological evaluation, doctors, programmers and mathematicians. In addition, technological advances that make it possible to adapt the techniques normally used by neuroscience in healthcare contexts overcome the limitations of the traditional psychology tools used in the past.
Applications in hospitals, hotels, offices...
This new current has multiple applications in hospitals, restaurants, hotels and, of course, in our workplaces, educational environments and homes, where we spend much of our time.
Research in neuroscience applied to interior design does not yet offer complete recipes applicable to all contexts and by any professional in the sector. But rapid progress is being made, offering design guidelines and directives that can improve specific aspects of our cognitive and behavioural processes.
After all, we spend 90% of our lives indoors, and the indoor environment influences our energy level, stress, mood or sleep. Hacking our brains to further reveal how to design our homes, offices or schools is essential for our health and wellbeing.
Maria Beltrán Rodríguez, Lecturer and Researcher, Neuroscience Applied to Interior Design, UDIT - University of Design, Innovation and Technology
This article was originally published in The Conversation.
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