An experimental study on differences in aesthetic experience according to thermal environments

Abstract

Over an extended period, the art museum prioritized regulating its thermal environment solely for the preservation of artworks, without considering the visitors' aesthetic experience. However, it is no longer an exception, given the ongoing development of HVAC systems. This research aims to investigate how museums' thermal environment and the resulting thermal comfort impact visitors' aesthetic experience. The experiment was performed to examine the subjects' aesthetic experience under three temperature conditions: 18 °C, 26 °C, and 32 °C. Subjects experienced VR museum exhibition, and their physiological responses, heart rates and variability were measured. Psychological responses were gathered through thermal comfort votes, and Aesthetic Experience Questionnaire (AEQ). As a result, the thermal comfort votes were highest in the order of 26 °C, 18 °C, and 32 °C. Aesthetic experience responses, measured by AEQ, were highest at 26 °C and lowest at 32 °C. This suggests that subjects enhanced aesthetic experiences in a thermally comfortable environment, while high temperature hindered them. Beyond temperature, factors like thermal sensation and comfort were considered influential in aesthetic experiences. Thermal sensation was found to impact aesthetic experiences in a quadratic manner, and thermal comfort had a positive effect on them. Lastly, physiological responses previously associated with aesthetic experiences showed no significant impact in this study. Only thermal sensation demonstrated a significant influence, attributed to thermoregulation responding to thermal environment changes. In other words, when the thermal environment changes, the physiological response can't reliably indicate aesthetic experiences due to the thermoregulation. This study is significant in proposing unexplored aspects of thermal environments in enhancing aesthetic experiences.