Older adults’ multi-sensory experience: an eye-tracking study of high-density residential neighbourhoods in Singapore

Abstract

ABSTRACT Declines in sensory and cognitive capacity are common with ageing and deeply affect daily functioning of older adults. However, empirical studies investigating seniors’ multi-sensory spatial experience are scarce. This study employs mobile eye-tracking and post-walk interviews in two high-density public housing neighbourhoods in Singapore to empirically examine the ways they perceive their familiar outdoor settings. Methods prove to be fruitful for gathering and interlinking complex and dynamic, quantitative and qualitative data on multi-sensory experience, through active and embodied spatial engagement. Key findings indicate that the majority of seniors spend most of their time visually engaged with the ground. This may result from higher safety concerns among seniors, but also from the lack of engaging features in investigated neighbourhoods. Comfort, safety, aesthetic and ethical/social judgement, inter-generational interaction, health and wayfinding are among the most reoccurring themes revealed, which can inform better multi-sensory integration for empathetic and enabling ageing-friendly neighbourhood design.