Journal | Developments in the Built Environment

We're pleased to share our new paper, Window Shading and Materiality for Psychophysiological Stress in Hospital Waiting Areas: A Spatial Frequency Perspective through Amplitude Spectrum Slopes in Virtual Reality, has been accepted in Developments in the Built Environment.

Hospital waiting areas can be sources of stress. In this study, we investigated how two design variables, window shading (open versus closed blinds) and materiality (biophilic versus artificial materials), relate to stress-related responses.

Using an immersive VR experiment with 47 participants, we combined STAI-S, EEG-derived frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA), and heart rate variability (RMSSD) to examine psychophysiological responses to different visual environments.

A key contribution of this research is the application of amplitude spectrum slope (−α) to quantify the spatial frequency structure of visual scenes. By linking image-based analysis with physiological measurements, we explored how measurable visual characteristics relate to stress-related responses.

Our findings suggest that open blinds and biophilic materials were associated with smaller increases in STAI-S scores and larger increases in RMSSD. Participant-specific α values closer to 1 were also associated with lower STAI-S scores and higher RMSSD and FAA.

Together, these findings highlight the potential of spatial frequency analysis as a quantitative approach to evaluating visual environmental quality and its relationship with psychophysiological responses, contributing to more evidence-informed healthcare design.

Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dibe.2026.101070

#HealthcareDesign #EvidenceBasedDesign #BiophilicDesign #EnvironmentalPsychology #SpatialFrequency #VirtualReality