Embodied 3D isovists: A method to model the visual perception of space

Krukar J, Manivannan C, Bhatt M, Schultz C

Abstract

Isovist analysis has been typically applied for the study of human perception in indoor built-up spaces. Albeit predominantly in 2D, recent works have explored isovist techniques in 3D. However, 3D applications of isovist analysis simply extrapolate the assumptions of its 2D counterpart, without questioning whether these assumptions remain valid in 3D. They do not: because human perception is embodied, the perception of vertical space differs from the perception of horizontal space. We present a user study demonstrating that an embodied 3D isovist that accounts for this phenomenon (formalised based on the notion of spatial artefacts) predicts human perception of space more accurately than the generic volumetric 3D isovist, specifically with respect to spaciousness and complexity. We suggest that the embodied 3D isovist should be used for 3D analyses in which human perception is of key interest.

Projects the publication originates from