Views outside help prevent us from getting lost…

New research confirms that being able to see outside as we travel through a building helps us keep from getting lost.  Qi, Lu, and Chen report that “General hospitals in China always present significant wayfinding problems due to their sizes and complexity. Poor wayfinding often leads to a frustrating and stressful user experience. . . .

We conducted an experiment in which 117 college students, aged 18–33 . . . performed two tasks in virtual reality environments of outpatient clinics. . . .

Participants’ sense of orientation, navigation ability, distance estimation, and spatial anxiety were captured by a survey. . . .

Participants’ stress levels were lower with outdoor window views compared to those without outdoor views. With more environmental features (landmarks and outdoor window views) added to the environments, participants showed significantly better wayfinding performance.”

Fei Qi, Zhipeng Lu, and Yi Chen.  “Investigating the Influences of Healthcare Facility Features on Wayfinding Performance and Associated Stress Using Virtual Reality.”  HERD:  Health Environments Research and Design Journal, in press, https://doi.org/10.1177/19375867221108505