What is it about?
With the development of the economy, the urban environment in today's world has brought about many mental issues for people. In the high-intensity urban work environment, introducing natural-style landscape design is an effective means to alleviate people's mental stress. The design of Japanese gardens is a naturalistic style, and previous studies have shown the relaxation effects by viewing a Japanese garden. This study aimed to explore a trend of eye movement in viewing a Japanese garden and elucidate the relationship between eye movements and relaxation effects compared to a geometric garden. A Japanese-style garden and a geometrically designed herbal garden were selected for the experiment. Participants' eye movement and heart rate were measured during their 5-minute observation of the garden to assess their physiological responses. Additionally, POMS-SF was used to assess their psychological responses. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a stronger significant correlation between eye movement data and relaxation mechanisms in the Japanese garden. Compared with the herbal garden, the Japanese garden had more fixations and faster eye movement speed, and better relaxation effects. The layout of landscape elements in the Japanese garden, texture, metaphorical implication, details, and maintenance in the Japanese garden hold participants' longer attention, resulting in a better relaxation effect.
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Why is it important?
This study suggests that exploring the relationship between design, eye movement, and relaxation mechanisms from different perspectives of landscape design is feasible. For example, our results demonstrate that the layout of landscape elements, texture, details, and maintenance in the Japanese garden hold participants’ longer attention, resulting in a better relaxation effect. This study also clarified how a garden design can manipulate eye movements to induce relaxing effects.
Perspectives
We hope this article can inspire widespread interest in Japanese garden design among the public, especially as it demonstrates the positive impact of Japanese garden design on people's psychological and physiological states. This reflects that Japanese gardens not only have aesthetic value but also possess potential for further research in areas such as healthcare, wellness, and even business.
Tiankai Liang
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The eye movement behavior induced by the design of a Japanese garden and its correlation with relaxation effects, Archnet-IJAR International Journal of Architectural Research, August 2024, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/arch-04-2024-0128.
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