The Effect of Soundscapes and Lightscapes on the Perception of Safety and Social Presence Analyzed in a Laboratory Experiment

Cristina Calleri, Arianna Astolfi, Anna Pellegrino, Francesco Aletta, Louena Shtrepi, Elena Bo, Martina Di Stefano, Paola Orecchia
2019 Sustainability  
The present study evaluates the effect of soundscape and lightscape variations on the perceived safety and perceived social presence in a pedestrian area through laboratory experiments. Thirty-one participants were presented with nine different virtual scenarios, in which the same underpass was reproduced under different soundscape and lightscape conditions. The participants were asked to assess each scenario considering 10 items related to perceived safety and perceived social presence. A
more » ... ipal component analysis allowed the 10 items to be reduced to two principal components, namely "perceived safety" and "perceived social presence". A two-way repeated measures ANOVA analysis was conducted to assess the effect of modifications of both the soundscape and lightscape on the two components. The obtained results showed that the soundscape had an effect on both the perceived safety (p < 0.05) and perceived social presence (p < 0.05), while the lightscape variations implemented in this experiment only had a statistically significant effect on the latter (p < 0.05). The results of such studies may be of interest for public design and management as they may be conducted by means of non-intrusive and cost-effective techniques.
doi:10.3390/su11113000 fatcat:q36p6lijf5fxbfnynfldxnxeni