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Overbury, Conroy, and Marks’ findings will not come as much of a surprise to anyone familiar with the research on biophilic design and on humans’ affinity for natural spaces.  The Overbury-lead group reports that their literature review determined that “Open water swimming may lead to improvements in mood and wellbeing, reductions in mental distress symptomatology, and was experienced as a positive, enriching process for many. Blue spaces involve embodiment, mindful presence, community and much more, offering for some a therapeutic accretion which sustains mental health and wellbeing across a lifetime. . . .  OWS can lead to improvement of mood, reduction of MH symptoms, and improved wellbeing. . . there was a clear finding that OWS allows connection with oneself, the water and others, and this was experienced as offering many benefits to MH and wellbeing, directly, indirectly, and reciprocally. It is interesting to note how a single experience – OWS – could incorporate so many factors known to support MH. . . . Everyday momentary experiences in blue spaces offer a refuge from daily life.”

K. Overbury, B. Conroy, and E. Marks. “Swimming in Nature:  A Scoping Review of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Benefits of Open Water Swimming.”  Journal of Environmental Psychology, in press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102073

Lee, Chu, and Chang, via a study published in Journal of Marketing, found that physical distance to products influences our responses to them.  The researchers determined that “how far we’re standing from a product changes what we think of it. . . . Previous research has shown . . . that customers respond more favorably to premium brands when their logos are positioned high above the customer. . . . The authors find that premium brands—those associated with luxury, high price, and prestige—do indeed benefit from [physical] distance from the consumer, while popular brands—those associated with accessibility, value, and warmth—are perceived most favorably from up close. More broadly, the findings reveal that there’s no single, ideal distance between consumers and products:  the right distance depends on the image the brand conveys.” 

Susie Allen.  2022. “Does Distance Make the Consumer’s Heart Grow Fonder?” Kellogg Insight, https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/luxury-product-placement-distance

Researchers have determined that even relatively low volume traffic noise can degrade our cognitive performance.  Investigators learned that “as little as 40 decibels of traffic noise – the typical level of background noise in an office environment or kitchen – has a detrimental effect on cognitive performance. Researchers at Chalmers’ Division of Applied Acoustics have conducted a laboratory study in which test subjects took concentration tests while being exposed to background traffic noise. . . . subjects had significantly poorer results on the performance test, and also felt that the task was more difficult to carry out, with traffic noise in the background. . . . background noise consisted of two audio sequences simulating trucks passing by at a distance of ten and fifty metres. Both sequences were normalized to the same total indoor level of 40 dB. . . . The audio sequence simulating the closer passages, where the sound changes significantly as the vehicle passes by, was usually the one that bothered the test subjects the most.” 

“Even Weak Traffic Noise Has a Negative Impact on Work Performance.”  2023. Press release, Chalmers University of Technology, https://www.chalmers.se/en/current/news/ace-traffic-noise-impacts-performance/

Zhang and colleagues’ research confirms that humans communicate on multiple “channels” simultaneously, some of which are challenging to replicate in virtual situations.  The investigators report that they “presented video-clips of an actress producing naturalistic passages to participants while recording their electroencephalogram. We quantified multimodal cues (prosody, gestures, mouth movements) and measured their effect on a well-established electroencephalographic marker of processing load in comprehension (N400). We found that brain responses to words were affected by informativeness of co-occurring multimodal cues, indicating that comprehension relies on linguistic and non-linguistic cues. Moreover, they were affected by interactions between the multimodal cues, indicating that the impact of each cue dynamically changes based on the informativeness of other cues. Thus, results show that multimodal cues are integral to comprehension.”

Ye Zhang, Diego Frassinelli, Jyrki Tuomainen, Jeremy Skipper, and Gabriella Vigliocco.  2021. “More Than Words:  Word Predictability, Prosody, Gesture and Mouth Movements in Natural Language Comprehension.”  Proceedings of the Royal Society B, vol. 288, no. 1955, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0500

Not all real or imagined interactions with nature are positive.  Researchers report in a study published in People and Nature that “internet searches indicate a growing prevalence of various biophobias across the world. Countries with larger urban populations show interest in a broader range of nature-related phobias, supporting the idea that urban living may be linked with fear and disgust towards nature. 

“Online Searches Point to Growing Prevalence of Nature-Related Phobias in Urban Populations.”  2023. Press release, University of Turku, https://www.utu.fi/en/news/press-release/online-searches-point-to-growing-prevalence-of-nature-related-phobias-in-urban

Anyone doing workplace research will be interested in a study done by Roh, Hasan, Esomonu, Hendricks, Benden, and Aggarwal, published in PLoS ONE.  The team learned that “employees really are less active and more prone to mistakes on afternoons and Fridays, with Friday afternoon representing the lowest point of worker productivity. . . . The researchers looked at the computer usage metrics of 789 in-office employees at a large energy company in Texas over a two-year [pre-pandemic] period.”

“Workers Are Less Productive and Make More Typos in the Afternoon- Especially on Fridays.”  2023. Press release, Texas A & M, https://today.tamu.edu/2023/08/02/workers-are-less-productive-and-make-more-typos-in-the-afternoon-especially-on-fridays/

Harati and Talheim link long term orientation in national cultures to water scarcity in a region; LTO is relevant to design generally as it can be tied to an interest in material life and project ROI, for example. Researchers found “Across 82 countries, long-run water scarcity predicted long-term orientation. . . . cultures in water-scarce environments value thinking for the long term more and indulgence less. Hofstede (2001) defines long-term orientation as ‘the fostering of virtues oriented towards future rewards, in particular, perseverance and thrift’ (p. 359). . . . Most people who live in dry areas such as Phoenix, Arizona, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, can get water from the sink by turning a knob. It might seem irrational that historical water scarcity should influence people’s decisions to apply to an established company or a risky start-up. Yet recent research in socioecological psychology has uncovered enduring cultural differences linked to the environments of our ancestors—from climatic variability to plow use to rice and wheat.”

Hamidreza Harati and Thomas Talheim.  2023. “Cultures in Water-Scarce Environments Are More Long-Term Oriented.”  Psychological Science, vol. 34, no. 7, https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976231172500

Creating walkable spaces can be as good for our physical health as it is for our mental health.  Koohsari, Nagai, Oka, Nakaya, Yasunaga, and McCormack report that “neighborhoods with more active living options and higher population density were associated with fewer risk factors for metabolic syndrome. . . . Cardiovascular diseases continue to be the leading causes of death worldwide. Metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors including hypertension and obesity, significantly increases the likelihood of cardiovascular diseases. . . . neighborhoods with a higher number of 'points of interest'—which refers to destinations such as schools, parks, and shops—and a friendlier environment for active living were associated with fewer risk factors for metabolic syndrome. Essentially, residing in a neighborhood that offers more destinations, walkability, and opportunities for physical activity was linked to improved metabolic health. Interestingly, the researchers also found fewer health-related risk factors in areas with a higher number of homes. This can be attributed to increased access to amenities, facilitating social interaction, and reducing reliance on cars.”

“Study Reveals Link Between Neighborhood Environments and Likelihood of Metabolic Syndrome.”  2023. Press release, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, https://www.jaist.ac.jp/english/whatsnew/press/2023/07/28-1.html

Research by Andersen, Byrne, and Wang confirms that what we see influences what we eat.  The investigators report that in 3 online studies they “manipulated food colour and flavour variety and reproducibly . . . 30 repetitions satiated. . . . Neither colour nor flavour variety reliably moderated any of the responses. Therefore, the results suggest that a more pronounced variety may be required to alter imagery-induced satiation.”  Seeing the same food image more than once (specifically more than 30 times) can make us feel full; seeing the image produces much the same effect in our heads as having tasted the sort of food pictured.

T. Andersen, D. Byrne, and Q. Wang.  2023. “Imagined Eating – An Investigation of Priming and Sensory-Specific Satiety.”  Appetite, vol. 182, 106421, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2022.106421.

It won’t surprise Research Design Connections readers to learn that design influences people’s experiences drinking wine at wineries.  Professor Joy (I am not making this up!) and team from the University of British Columbia report that “researchers detailed a number of items including the material features of the winery and the sensorial theme, such as music and lighting. They took note of everything including the landscape, architecture, views from the windows, layout of the store and the physical space of the tastings. Even the social interaction between staff and customers was considered. Each of these elements are subjectively perceived and work together in the cocreation of ‘affective atmospheres’ that are central to the success of a winery,’ [Joy] explains. . . . ‘Not only is the experience influenced by the aesthetics of the winery, the service received and the wine itself, but also by differences between novices, experts and enthusiasts’ [quote attributed to Joy]. . . [Joy] suggests the findings highlight the importance of a holistic approach to achieving consistency across material features, sensorial modalities and social interactions of a winery.”  This study on wineries is published in the Journal of Retailing.

“Winery Experiences Affected By More Than What Is in Your Glass.”  2023. Press release, The University of British Columbia, https://news.ok.ubc.ca/2023/07/19/winery-experiences-affected-by-more-than-what-is-in-your-glass/