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Classroom design influences the cognitive processes that determine learning. However, the effects of classroom geometry have been little studied, in part due to the difficulty of modifying physical spaces for experimental purposes. Today, virtual reality allows researchers to very closely control many environmental conditions while collecting psychological and neurophysiological metrics of the user experience. The objective of the present study is to analyse the influence of classroom width on the attention and memory performance of university students. The performance of 90 subjects in three classroom width settings (8.80, 8.20, and 7.60 m), implemented in virtual reality, was evaluated through measures of their attention- and memory-related psychological and neurophysiological responses. The results showed that wider classrooms are associated with poorer performance and lower emotional arousal. This demonstrates a link between the geometric variables of classrooms and the cognitive and physiological responses of students. In general, the present study and its methodology can help architects and researchers develop design guidelines that can improve students' cognitive processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of environmental satisfaction sources in the design of a health centre is a means to achieve stress reduction. The present work analyses the effect that these sources have on the stress reduction of patients' companions in a paediatric service. A two-phase study was carried out. During the first phase, 120 participants assessed 20 waiting rooms in situ in order to select the environmental sources with the greatest effect. During the second phase, the stress levels of 26 participants were measured in four simulated waiting rooms that combined the selected sources from the first phase. A multisensory simulation was carried out through a virtual reality experiment with visual, auditory and olfactory elements, and stress levels were measured at the psychological and neurophysiological levels. Results suggest that a combination of environmental satisfaction sources creates an important synergistic effect at the psychological and neurophysiological levels and underlines the importance of auditory and olfactory stimuli. Conclusions may be of interest to designers and managers of healthcare facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]