IEQ Visual Data to Building Occupants for Personal Control of Indoor Environmental Quality

Abstract: Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) profoundly influences occupants' health, productivity, and comfort in built environments. Effective interaction with occupants to comprehend and control IEQ conditions is crucial in human-centered design for IEQ optimization. This paper presents a preliminary study that leverages three-dimensional (3D) virtual space to deliver IEQ data to occupants, enabling them to understand indoor conditions better and exercise personal control of IEQ. A survey was conducted with participants in a virtually simulated educational environment. For a comparative study, participants experienced 3D virtual space with and without IEQ data information on IEQ variables such as temperature, humidity, air quality, lighting, and noise levels. The proposed framework addresses the effectiveness of IEQ visual data on occupants' responses to ways of indoor environmental controls. Regarding the effectiveness of IEQ visual data for occupants' engagement in IEQ controls, the percentage of positive tendency, that responses strongly agree and agree, ranges from 86 to 88% for thermal comfort, from 84 to 92% for visual comfort, from 71 to 81% for acoustic comfort, and 85% for indoor air quality. Findings also show that specific directions on pictograms would help participants take active engagement to improve comfort levels rather than visual data solely. In conclusion, this paper indicates a preliminary approach utilizing 3D virtual space to determine how participants respond to IEQ visual data for personal control of IEQ. By merging immersive visualization with interactive control, our framework bridges human factors and indoor design for occupants' comfort and productivity. The demand for human-centered design continues to expand to IEQ management with emerging technologies such as electroencephalography, resulting in the design of optimized, healthier, productive, and energy-efficient indoor spaces.

Keywords: Personal Control, Indoor Data Visualization, Indoor Environmental Quality, Virtual Space, Human-Centered Design

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1004248

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