Projects

The DUET Lab investigates applied and empirical research associated with the design, development, and evaluation of user experience in designed environments. Our research aims to explore design elements, technology usage, and user characteristics toward optimal user experience using a data-driven research approach.

	Effects of Store Layout on Perceived Retail Crowding The issue of crowding was explored in this study using 3D virtual walk-through, a technology capable of simulating realistic and controlled environments with an engaging experience and reactions similar to real environments. We predicted that the negative impact of crowding on customers’ subsequence responses to engage in shopping activities can be resolved through the physical configuration of a store.
	Cross-Cultural Effects of Visual Merchandising in the Designed Fashion Retail Environment Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach from design, marketing, and psychophysiology, this study is to gain a better understanding of significant cross-cultural issues. High-fidelity 3D virtual environments were developed to best with innovative mixed methods towards capturing emotion/attitude/behavior information for fashion retail environments research and education. In addition, with cross-cultural research between Korea and the US, cultural differences on the visual communication mechanism are examined.
	Reading Emotion of Color Environments: Computer Simulations With Self-Report and Physiological Data The affective experience of a color environment has rarely been tested in real-scale physical settings. In addition to the challenges of manipulating and controlling colors in a real-world setting, an environment with multiple attributes and colors is more difficult to study empirically. Advanced computer graphic technology allows photo-realistic representations of an environment with the ability to control visual attributes and manipulate colors in the environment. Using Kobayashi’s color image scale theory and multiple indicators of emotional response elicited by different interior color combinations. Ultimately, this study aims to inform decision makers of commercial and health care environments with a greater range of user experience data.
	Capturing Cross-Cultural Emotions of Designed Environments:The case for high-fidelity 3D simulations with psycho-physiological measures The goal for the project is to collect preliminary data aimed at demonstrating a new research model for assessing cross-cultural emotions of designed environments. We will establish a collaborative network with research groups in Korea and Japan. Despite the significantly increasing role of global marketing, little research has addressed the cultural differences in emotional responses to environments. Two of the most fundamental challenges in this field that remain unanswered are 1) testing in a controlled physical environment with groups of people in different geographical locations and 2) understanding the psychological and emotional responses using language-based tools. The seed funding from the Mario Enaudi Center for International Studies supports to build an international research infrastructure and to perform a proof-of-concept, cross-cultural experiment using advanced simulation techniques and psycho-physiological measures. The results of these cross-cultural experiments will address those two fundamental questions and will provide the basis for a major study on cross-cultural emotions of designed environments.