Comparison of Mive and Survey for Observing Thermal-Driven Occupant Behavior: Experiment-Based Evidence

Abstract

Understanding and enhancing thermal-driven occupant behavior within the built environment is crucial for creating spaces that promote occupant comfort and satisfaction. There are several approaches contributing to such understanding and enhancing. Among them, two distinct approaches are a mixed-immersive virtual environment (MIVE) and survey. The MIVE offers a highly immersive and realistic environment, while the survey is widely used and provides a standardized method of data collection. Both approaches have their own advantages and limitations, and the selection between them should be based on the specific research objectives and practical considerations. This research endeavored to compare and validate the applicability of the approaches in exploring thermal-driven occupant behavior within built environments. The study delved into the intricacies of each approach, dissecting their strengths and limitations while uncovering valuable insights into human-building interactions. Through an experiment-based investigation involving a diverse range of tasks and scenarios, the study scrutinized the effectiveness, reliability, and nuances of both MIVE and survey approaches. It utilized a between-subjects design with three different temperature conditions (20°C, 25°C, and 30°C). Various cognitive office tasks (relaxing, reading, drawing, and typing) were assigned to participants to observe their influence on participants’ thermal sensation and interaction. ITC-SOPI was used to observe participants’ sense of presence. The findings unveiled that the MIVE approach exhibited a closer alignment with real-world conditions (baseline), particularly in observing participants' thermal state vote and intentions of interaction. In contrast, the survey approach demonstrated its utility as a precursor for envisioning interaction tendencies. However, the MIVE approach presented some negative effects that require further attention. The strategic integration of these approaches held the potential to optimize experimental design and resource allocation, enhancing the overall efficacy of studying thermal-driven occupant behavior. The research contributes to the evolving field of immersive environments and human-building interaction studies.

Keywords: Occupant behavior, Virtual human-building interaction, Immersive virtual environment, Mixed-immersive virtual environment, Survey, ITC-SOPI, Thermal-driven occupant behavior