Virtual Reality Simulation as a Tool for Salutogenic and Multisensory Interior Design: A Human-Centric Well-Being Approach

Abstract

Contemporary interior architecture increasingly shifts from function-oriented design toward approaches that prioritise users’ wellbeing and spatial experience. However, despite growing recognition of the role of multisensory spatial atmosphere in shaping emotional responses and environmental comfort, designers still lack methodological tools enabling systematic evaluation of these factors at early design stages. This paper proposes a conceptual framework integrating immersive virtual reality (VR) simulation with multisensory perception theory and the salutogenic model of sense of coherence (SOC) as a methodological basis for analysing atmospheric spatial parameters in interior environments. The framework organises relationships between spatial design variables, perceptual mechanisms, and simulation-based evaluation procedures within a three-level structure enabling controlled investigation of users’ responses to colour, lighting conditions, material tactility, spatial proportions, and environmental legibility. By positioning immersive virtual environments as perceptual laboratories rather than visualisation tools, the proposed model supports evidence-based assessment of spatial atmosphere prior to implementation and contributes to the development of wellbeing-oriented interior design strategies grounded in measurable environmental parameters.

Keywords: Virtual Reality (VR) simulation, Human-centered design, Salutogenic design, Multisensory experience

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007280