The Validity of Visual Surrogates for Representing Waterscapes

Abstract

Visual surrogates have been widely used for solving environment related issues. Researchers now have concern over the validity of surrogates. Human perception is multi-modal (Wohlwill, 1976; Ittelson, 1973) and motion is an essential aspect in the perceptual process (Gibson, 1979). Therefore, a surrogate has to be able to represent the dynamic elements in the environment and more realistically reflect human environmental experience. The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of videos and slides as visual surrogates for representing dynamic environment. The validity of the surrogates was verified by comparing subjects' perceptual responses to on-site and simulated situations. The perceptual assessments included emotional, cognitive, behavioural and preference responses. The results indicated that on-site participants' emotional responses and preferences are significantly stronger than those of video and slide viewers. In addition, on-site participants' and video viewers' cognitive and behavioural responses were significantly higher than those of slide viewers. Overall, the validity of videos and slides for representing waterscapes was not supported.