Research on the Impact of Panoramic Green View Index of Virtual Reality Environments on Individuals’ Pleasure Level Based on EEG Experiment

Abstract

Green View Index (GVI) is a core indicator to measure urban quality. Identifying proper ranges of GVI has become a significant proposition in Landscape Architecture to design environments that can increase individuals’ pleasure level. However, quantitative research on the pleasure level impacted by varied GVIs is still inadequate. This research explores the changes of pleasure level through EEG data collection and questionnaire survey under panoramic scenarios with different panoramic GVIs, which can represent more environmental elements than two-dimensional images. By adding shrubs and trees gradually, this experiment precisely set five scenarios with the GVI changing from 0 to 30%, 60%, 90%, and 0. Research results show that 1) individuals’ pleasure level dropped to the lowest when they first enter the scenario with a panoramic GVI of 0, but when panoramic GVI increased from 0 to 30% and to 60%, the pleasure level increased and finally researched the highest; 2) in an environment with a panoramic GVI of 90%, individuals’ pleasure level significantly reduced, while some participants self-reported the sense of fear and oppression; and 3) when shifting panoramic GVI from 90% to 0, the bright and open space increased participants’ pleasure level. All these findings reveal that individuals’ pleasure level reached the highest under the scenario with 60% panoramic GVI; extremely high panoramic GVI may lead to negative emotions; and landscape with carefully designed panoramic GVIs can improve one’s pleasure level. Future research may probe into the relationship between GVI and individuals’ pleasure level from more perspectives to provide reference for the design, optimization, and evaluation of outdoor urban greening.

Keywords

Panoramic Green View Index / EEG / Environmental Psychology / Landscape Architecture / Virtual Reality / Pleasure Level

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