Abstract
This study argues on the importance of considering the visual capacity of the observers in the placement of the windows to provide views to the natural outdoor environment. In particular, this study explores the mechanism of seeing that involves foveal and peripheral view in defining the patients’ visual capacity in experiencing the spaces of the healing environment. The placement of windows to connect the inside with the outside becomes irrelevant when their placement is not within the patient’s visual range. To examine the patient’s view toward the windows, we performed a 3d simulation of a hospital inpatient room and captured the scenes representing the foveal and peripheral views of the openings from various positions of bed-ridden patients. The region calculation of the opening elements within the captured image reveals the presence of opening within the peripheral range of patients’ view. This study suggests that the design of healing environment should not be based merely on the physical arrangement of interior elements, but should also consider how the elements are experienced within the view of the patient.Seeing
Highlights
This study addresses how the limited visual capacity of the patient needs to be considered in providing the patients with the view of the natural outdoor environment
It reveals the limited view toward the openings from the patients’ point of view, which is only within the range of 0.23-1.86% located in the peripheral view range of the whole visual sphere
The result indicates that the patients could only view the openings in their peripheral view range, and no openings are present within the foveal view range
Summary
This study addresses how the limited visual capacity of the patient needs to be considered in providing the patients with the view of the natural outdoor environment. The study on the patient’s real visual experience requires the understanding of the seeing mechanism as a way to mediate the gap between the seeing experience and the arrangement of the visual elements in space. This study suggests the shifting paradigm from merely providing visual stimuli for the patient to entering into a patient's visual experience. Entering into the visual experience of the viewer can be attempted by capturing the images from the patients’ point of view; the body and the image-space experienced by the patient becomes a representation of the patient experience (Vall & Zwijnenberg, 2009; Weigel & Paul, 2003)
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