Modulatory effects of the landscape sequences on pedestrians emotional states using EEG

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the impact of specific landscape elements on pedestrians’ emotional experiences during walking. During the study, footages were recorded by participants while walking to obtain real-time visual element data, including greenery, building and road visibility. And electroencephalogram (EEG) indicators of β/α, (α+θ)/β, θ/β and θ/α ratio were collected to represent levels of arousal, fatigue, attention and relaxation. Our findings suggested strong correlations between θ/α ratio with both greenery and road visibility. Conversely, other indicators were primarily influenced by greenery and building visibility. Regarding the combined impact of elements, the most positive emotions were observed when green visibility exceeded 51%. However, the peak alertness was achieved with building visibility between 5.2% and 31%. The lowest fatigue and the highest attention level were recorded under building visibility less than 5.2%, and the highest level of relaxation occurred with road visibility less than 10%. In terms of the influence of time, the entire walking process could be delineated by the five and 8 min marks, classified into novelty, adaptation and sustained phase based on the patterns of emotional changes observed in the participants. Consequently, the visual elements and their combinations, and duration play regulatory roles in pedestrians' emotional experiences.