A socio-cultural perspective to semi-outdoor thermal experience and restorative benefits – Comparison between Chinese and Australian cultural groups

Abstract

Thermal experiences in outdoor and semi-outdoor environments contribute significantly to the holistic experience of nature and its restorative benefits. Culture may be a significant factor influencing the large variations of human thermal perception in semi-outdoor and outdoor environments. This research aims to compare the differences in thermal pleasure, adaptive behaviours, and restorative benefits between two cultural groups, Chinese and Australian, undergoing identical exposures in semi-outdoor environments. Pretest-posttest experiments were conducted in climate chambers with 19 Chinese and 19 Australian participants. A multisensory immersive Virtual Reality method was adopted for the simulation of two semi-outdoor environmental scenarios, one providing only direct sunlight exposure and the other including the adaptive opportunity for subjects to select between direct sunlight or shade. When exposed to the sunlight-only scenario, most of the Chinese participants felt thermally unpleasant and engaged in sunlight avoidance behaviours, while majority of the Australian participants felt thermally pleasant and engaged in sunlight maximising behaviours. There were also significant differences in restorative benefits. Moreover, access to shade as an adaptive opportunity can potentially reduce cultural differences in thermal pleasure and restorative benefits resulting from outdoor exposures. Different notions of skin beauty between Chinese and Australian cultural groups (fair vs suntanned skin tone) may have contributed to divergent environmental attitudes regarding sunlight exposure, resulting in different thermal pleasure responses and adaptive behavioural patterns. The importance of culture-specific and inclusive design should be promoted by implementing adaptive design strategies to satisfy the diverse thermal preferences of semi-outdoor and outdoor users.