Presenter 1: Dr. Sneha Jain

Title of presentation: Impact of different daylight scenarios on human perception of visual comfort

Content summary: Adequate daylight exposure offers numerous health benefits, including regulating the sleep-wake cycle, reducing stress, and enhancing productivity. However, designing with daylight is a far more challenging task due to its highly variable nature and associated issues of overheating and glare. Glare, a common disturbance reported by occupants, can lead to reduced visual performance, eye fatigue, and headaches. Minimizing discomfort glare is essential to maximize daylight’s positive impacts. The first step to address glare is an evidence-based understanding of what causes or influences glare. This research focuses on identifying such factors influencing discomfort glare to improve prediction models and inform daylight optimization strategies, design of façade and shading devices.

Presenter bio: Dr. Sneha Jain is a postdoctoral scholar in the civil and environmental engineering department at Stanford University. Her research lies at the intersection of daylighting, visual comfort, and human perception, with a focus on understanding how the built environment impacts human comfort and well-being. She earned her PhD from EPFL, Switzerland, where she investigated the influence of eye physiology and color of daylight on human visual comfort in office settings. With a background in Architecture and a master’s in building science and information technology from India, Sneha also completed a research fellowship at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL). Currently, she is working on broader aspects of occupant well-being in low-income housing.

Presenter 2: Qi Yang

Title of Presentation: Enhancing Data-Driven Architectural Design by Integrating Human Experience 

Content Summary: The presentation will include an overview of Qi's works with Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) design tools, with a focus on one project that decodes users' emotional responses and provides users with real-time feedback, enhancing the decision-making responses. 

Presenter Bio: Qi Yang is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Human Behavior and Design at the Department of Human-Centered Design, Cornell University. As a researcher from an architectural design background, Qi aims to develop computational design tools that foster inclusive, creative, and evidence-based decisions to both democratize design and improve future occupants’ well-being. In the journey of Qi’s Ph.D., Qi has explored the potential of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) in augmenting the architectural design process. Besides, Qi has developed cognitive agent models in the context of wayfinding, providing early-stage feedback to designers on future occupants’ experiences and behaviors.

Presenter 3: Nour Tawil

Title of Presentation: The contour effect: Psychological and neural responses to the built environment

Content Summary: In a series of studies, we explore the purported human preference for curved vs. angular interiors—a phenomenon not fully explained nor explored with well-matched, realistic stimuli. A novel photorealistic Virtual Reality (VR) paradigm surprisingly showed no differences in affective, cognitive, and physiological responses. Subsequently, using images, we observed positive effects of curvature on affective (i.e., preference, stress) and behavioral (i.e., approach-avoidance) responses. Consistent effects on affective responses were replicated using exploration videos from a first-person perspective. Lastly, integrating VR and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we immerse participants in videos to examine the impact of contours on pleasure- and stress-related brain regions.

Presenter Bio: Nour Tawil, an architect and a scientist, specializing in the intersection of architecture and neuroscience. After joining the "Neuroscience applied to Architectural Design" program at IUAV University in Venice in 2017, she is now a Ph.D. candidate in the "Environmental Neuroscience" group at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. Nour's research employs behavioral, cognitive, and neuroimaging testing to explore the influence of architectural design on the human brain.