Environmental Psych in the News – Brown noise….?!
Dani Blum (2022, “Can Brown Noise Turn Off Your Brain?, The New York Times,https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/23/well/mind/brown-noise.html) effectively presents much of the science that underpins Space Doctors discussions of science-based soundscaping, as discussed in this article (also...
The Most Common and Important Errors Design Professionals Seem to Make
None of us are perfect, even people who design for a living. Unfortunately, design professionals regularly do the following things, which are oh so very un-good for the people using what they’ve designed: Signalling...
Colours and Concert-Halls
Chen and Cabrera studied experiences in concert halls; select surfaces were different colours for the various conditions tested. Study participants rated “loudness, reverberance, and their visual and auditory preference for multiple virtual reality scenes...
Biophilic Design in Workplaces
All those plants you see around your workplace are not there by chance. Research consistently shows that being able to see a couple of plants (not more) as you work boost your cognitive performance,...
Hearing the right “silent” messages
Space designers and managers are also really focused on you getting the right messages from what they provide. Some research studies have found that the nonverbal messages that you pull from your workplace have...
Odd Spaces can make Great Spaces!
If when you read “odd places” in the title of this article and thought, “at last, what I should do with that weird space under the stairs OR that 2 foot by 3 foot...
Fall and Food
One of the first questions that generally gets asked about design and eating is if colours on walls, plates, etc., can influence how much we eat. The answer: surface colours do indeed influence our...
Airports are Going Biophilic!
A recent article in the New York Times (“The Trouble With Airports, and How to Fix Them,”) should brighten the day of anyone who has ever, or may ever need to spend time in airports....
Live in a Green Area, if you can
Atiken found that “People who live in green neighbourhoods are less likely to develop cardiovascular disease. . . . The researchers analysed the odds of developing any new cardiovascular disease, and the number of...
Memory!
Want to remember what you’ve learned? The research is very, very clear. When we return to the same place where we originally learned something, or even had a particular idea/inspiration, we’re more likely to...
Planning a Party? – The Long Read
The PARTY CHECKLIST! It’s probably been a while since you’ve been able to plan any sort of gathering that includes more than you and your cat. Neuroscientists (who would no doubt by this time...
Space-By-Time
We’ve all had the experience of being in a café in the morning and being able to plough right through a backlog of work and returning at night to the same spot and having...
Play music when doing something simple!
Have you ever wondered how music affects what you’re doing? Kiss and Linnell shared some research on two sets of people who either sat in silence or listened to some music while they are...
Sight-Sound Links
Did you know that our environment affects how we read and process information. This is a handy bit of information for advertisers, designers, or anyone trying to enhance their messaging to their readers. So,...
Summer / Winter / Seasonal Stressors!
At this time of year you’re likely to be experiencing particular environmental stressors. Humans are most comfortable, our moods are good, and our brains work most effectively, when temperatures are around 70 to 72...
Really Low Cost
In the second article on designing the space to live the life you planned, we look at how you can change your home or office which will cost very little. Your house or office...
Design changes that are FREE!
Some changes you can make to your home or office can have a powerful effect on your wellbeing but are essentially free. Here is a useful list for you The single most important...
Healthy Eating – Aided by Design!
The weather finally turning warm each year is a wonderful moment. It’s that time when we can leave our homes without the coats and sweaters that have encased us for months. Our moods near...
Design and Physical Health
Design can support physical health in more than the expected ways. Use of safe materials, ones that don’t off gas toxins, for example, is an obvious design-based route to physical health. Design can make...
High Energy Spaces!
Many of us do all that we can to avoid working out. We often use work as an excuse to avoid exercise—it seems many of us would rather spend time writing another report from...
Can a Scent change our Opinion? – “Science News”
If you want to be liked make sure you’re surrounded by lovely sweet smelling roses! That’s what this piece of research seems to reveal! Also the opposite is true, if you are trying to...
Soundscapes Matter – “Science News”
People with dementia are being given peace by creating personalised soundscapes for them. Talebzadeh’s work focused on “how a personalized soundscape can help those with dementia by providing clues regarding time of day and...
Scents Meet Virtual Reality for Wellbeing – “Science News”
Virtual Reality has taken a turn for the better by incorporating smell! There is a new report which uses views and smells to augment the virtual reality to create calm spaces in nature for...
Designing to Boost Brain Performance – “Science News”
This is a tough time to be a human. Humankind needs to creatively resolve a multitude of challenges in the weeks and months and years ahead. That makes this a good time to apply...
Home Office, Home Design Challenge
Creating a home office where people work to their full potential, and have a reasonable level of wellbeing while doing so, is a lot more challenging than heading off to IKEA and bringing home...
Why We’ll Still Gather – From a Psych Perspective
Loads of people are proclaiming that future mingling will be much less prevalent than in the past. There are compelling reasons to believe, however, that after we’ve all been vaccinated we’ll continue to find...
Water Features
Now, for the water element. If a river or stream or pond or lake or ocean borders your property, great. Make sure people in your yard or garden have an unobstructed view of it. ...
Outdoor Plants
First, let’s talk about outdoor plants. The research consistently shows that mental refreshment and lower stress levels flow most smoothly and certainly from looking at green leafy plants. If you live in a desert,...
Making Space for Meditating
Meditation is, for many, a spiritual activity, and for all a relaxing, calming one—but no matter why people have decided to meditate, studies indicate that it has positive repercussions for their minds and bodies....
Design for Exercise – how to make the most out of your exercise
‘Tis the time for exercise. Nothing inspires a person to spring into action, body management-wise, faster than the prospect of leaving the house in a summer ensemble that’s snugger, in a debilitating sort of...
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