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Item Open Access How interior design responds to neurodiversity: implementing wearable technologies in neurodesign processes(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023-06-20) Kwon, Jain, author; Linihan, Suzie, author; Iedema, Alyssa, author; Schmidt, Alea, author; Luo, Chenyi, author; Marrufo, Karime, author; Frontiers, publisherThis perspective article, looking through the lens of neurodiversity, discusses the benefits and challenges of implementing virtual environments and wearable technologies in interior design and related fields. While the relationship between human perception and built environments has long been studied in the environmental design disciplines, the direct impact on occupant performance related to neurodiversity has been underexplored in research, with a shortage of knowledge supporting how it can be applied in design practice concerning the end users. Individuals’ perceptual, cognitive, and affective responses to their surroundings vary, as neurodiversity plays a key role in the invisible, human-environment interaction. Thus, measuring, analyzing, and understanding affective, perceptual, and cognitive experiences is a challenging process in which various factors come into play, and no single method or measurement can adequately work for all. Due to such challenges, research has also utilized various biometric measurements and tools for immersive experiments in physical and virtual environments, e.g., eye tracking used in studies on gaze behaviors and immersive virtual reality (IVR) used in studies on the spatial perception of dementia patients. Along with empirical methods, studies have stressed the contribution of phenomenology to looking into the hidden dimension, the ‘why factors’ of perception, cognition, and affectivity. Concerning the methodological approach, this perspective article shares insights into a novel process model, Participatory Neurodesign (PND) framework, used in wayfinding research and design processes utilizing eye tracking and IVR. Opportunities for neurodesign research and design practice are also discussed, focusing on the health, safety, and wellbeing of end-users.Item Open Access Body and the senses in spatial experience: the implications of kinesthetic and synesthetic perceptions for design thinking(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022-04-07) Kwon, Jain, author; Iedema, Alyssa, author; Frontiers in Psychology, publisherHuman perception has long been a critical subject of design thinking. While various studies have stressed the link between thinking and acting, particularly in spatial experience, the term "design thinking" seems to disconnect conceptual thinking from physical expression or process. Spatial perception is multimodal and fundamentally bound to the body that is not a mere receptor of sensory stimuli but an active agent engaged with the perceivable environment. The body apprehends the experience in which one's kinesthetic engagement and knowledge play an essential role. Although design disciplines have integrated the abstract, metaphoric, and visual aspects of the body and its movement into conceptual thinking, studies have pointed out that design disciplines have emphasized visuality above the other sensory domains and heavily engaged with the perception of visual configurations, relying on the Gestalt principles. Gestalt psychology must be valued for its attention to a whole. However, the theories of design elements and principles over-empathizing such visuality posit the aesthetics of design mainly as visual value and understate other sensorial and perceptual aspects. Although the visual approach may provide a practical means to represent and communicate ideas, a design process heavily driven by visuality can exhibit weaknesses undermining certain aspects of spatial experience despite the complexity. Grounded in Merleau-Ponty's notion of multisensory perception, this article discusses the relationship between body awareness and spatial perception and its implication for design disciplines concerning built environments. Special attention is given to the concepts of kinesthetic and synesthetic phenomena known as multisensory and cross-sensory, respectively. This discussion integrates the corporeal and spatiotemporal realms of human experience into the discourse of kinesthetic and synesthetic perceptions. Based on the conceptual, theoretical, and precedent analyses, this article proposes three models for design thinking: Synesthetic Translation, Kinesthetic Resonance, and Kinesthetic Engagement. To discuss the concepts rooted in action-based perception and embodied cognition, this study borrows the neurological interpretation of haptic perception, interoception, and proprioception of space. This article suggests how consideration of the kinesthetic or synesthetic body can deepen and challenge the existing models of the perceptual aspects of environmental psychology adopted in design disciplines.Item Open Access Meaning of gaze behaviors in individuals' perception and interpretation of commercial interior environments: an experimental phenomenology approach involving eye-tracking(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021-08-16) Kwon, Jain, author; Kim, Ju Yeon, author; Frontiers in Psychology, publisherA critical question in interior design is how multisensory information is integrated into occupant perception and interpretation of the environmental contexts and meanings. Although there have been efforts to identify and theorize visual perception of interior factors or features (e.g., colors, fixtures, and signs), the hidden meanings behind visual attention and behaviors have been neglected in interior design research. This experimental phenomenological study investigates the impact of auditory stimuli on the gaze behaviors of individuals and the hidden meanings of their audio-visual perceptions of commercial interiors. Implementing eye-tracking and open-ended interviews, this study explored how the neurophysiological and phenomenological methods in complementary can serve for interior design research on the meaning of gaze behaviors. The study used a convenience sample of 26 participants, three coffee shop interior images, and two musical stimuli. Essential to this study is the interpretive analysis of corresponding eye-tracking and interview data. The results show that visual perception is affected by auditory stimuli and other interior elements and factors associated with personal experiences; however, no distinct gaze pattern is identified by the type of auditory stimuli. The fixation patterns showed mixed reflections of the participants' perceptions, e.g., a single fixation pattern reflecting participants' likes and dislikes. Findings included six essential meanings of participants' gaze behaviors. This study suggested that auditory and visual stimuli are reciprocal in individuals' perceptions. Rather than one affects the other, the interaction between sensory stimuli contributes to the complexity and intensity of multisensory stimuli people associate with their experiences and conceptualize with meanings they establish.Item Open Access Millennial consumers' responses to cause-related marketing in support of LGBTQ homeless youth(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019-08-14) Hensley, Cammie, author; Diddi, Sonali, author; Hyllegard, Karen, author; MDPI, publisherThis study explored Millennial consumers' responses to a cause-related marketing (CRM) initiative for a sensitive social cause—lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) homeless youth. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to examine the effctiveness of CRM in generating financial support for LGBTQ homeless youth. Findings revealed that self-cause congruence may be an important factor in determining Millennial consumers' responses to a CRM initiative for LGBTQ homeless youth; whereas, message frame/appeal may be less important for generating response to such an initiative. Findings also indicated that gender, information processing, guilt, and skepticism influenced Millennial consumers' attitudes toward brand, attitudes toward cause, and behavioral intentions toward the CRM initiative. These findings offer implications for brands/companies that may wish to engage in CRM initiative in support of sensitive social causes. By addressing a sensitive social cause-LGBTQ homeless youth-findings provide an original contribution to the CRM literature. Findings reveal that self-cause congruence is an important predictor of behavioral intention toward the LGBTQ social cause. This provides an implication for marketers who want to target their relationship-building efforts toward individuals who have demonstrated prior engagement with a social cause. Findings also have implications for brands/companies that wish to develop CRM initiatives for controversial causes.