Faculty Members

Faculty of Environmental and Information Sciences

Department of Design

Key words
Mixed Reality, Multimodality, Kansei Information

PhD in Kansei Science / Professor

Youngil Cho

Education

Kansei Science, Kansei, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba
Textile Design / Multimedia Design (Dual Degree), Hongik University

Professional Background

Faculty of Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin University, Visiting Professor in The University of Art and Design Linz (Kunstuniversität Linz) Austria, The top prize in Kaita 60th Anniversary Contest, The president's prize of Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin University, Lecturer in Kogakuin University, Web Director of the Pepsi-Cola Korea

Consultations, Lectures, and Collaborative Research Themes

The practical studies on experience design by using "information-sharing" technologies, such as Mixed-, Augmented-, Virtual Reality (Hiroshima International Animation Festival Event)

Main research themes and their characteristics

「Experience Design focused on Multimodality」

 The way we think, feel, and react is affected by the environment around us. There is even a research field called environmental psychology, which is dedicated to studying the relationship between the environment and users‘ preference and experience. The relationship between spatial conditions and users’ preferences and experiences is an important aspect of spatial design. Previous research on architectural design suggests that ceiling height influences users’ aesthetic judgment and visual perception of the room. Another study reported that the variation in ceiling heights tends to affect how the consumers process information and respond emotionally to the given space.
 Major research works provide evidence and design models to propose and verify experience design focusing on multimodality. Spatial design tools have evolved through platforms such as Virtual Reality (hereafter referred to as VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). The present study attempts to implement these tools to design and improve subjective evaluation such as quality and satisfaction of shared information. Previously, Cho et al (2019) studied the interaction effect of the spatial elements and scent on the psychological mood state and verified that the presence of olfaction stimulus helped reduce the negative mood of the participants and improved positive mood states in deficit spatial conditions. In the experiment, orange essential oil was used as an olfactory stimulus. As for the visual stimuli, nine types of VR spaces were presented in random order to the participants during two different sessions (with scent and without scent). Each visual stimulus differed in three levels of ceiling height (lower, default, higher) and wideness (narrower, default, wider). VR was used as a visual stimulus in this experiment, as it has been reported to be an effective tool for studying the emotional response to spatial conditions and has been widely applied in psychiatric treatment of space-related phobias, such as claustrophobia and acrophobia. Evaluation of affective response was done by implementing the sixty-five evaluation phrases from the Japanese version POMS 2 (Profile of Mood States, second edition).
 The findings presented that the spatial elements interact to affect (1) emotions related to anxiousness such as feeling restless in the presence of an olfactory stimulus and, (2) emotions related to decision making such as trusting others and being clear-headed in the absence of an olfactory stimulus. The results of this research clarify the relationship between multimodal perception and spatial conditions. Design processes should not just focus on aesthetic values but also on the users’ emotional preferences and sensory responses. Including this affective information in designs could help provide a better user experience. Further studies on the characteristics of space that are affected by multimodal stimulation will help establish guidelines on how to use them concurrently to improve the spatial design and thus offer stabilized and appropriate spatial experience for the users.



Major academic publications


 An Evaluation Model of the Sense of the Presence in Virtual Reality Environment. Youngil Cho, Sai Lakshmi. The 13th International Conference on Design Principles & Practices (Scientific-peer-reviewed) 2019

 Influence of Spatial Formation Elements in Virtual Space on the Subjects’ Psychological Stress. Sai Lakshmi, Youngil Cho, Tamotsu Kamigaki. 14th International Conference on Industrial Management held at Hangzhou, China (Scientific-peer-reviewed, The best paper award winner) 2018

 Illusion and Presence: The Effects of Intermodal Perception in Virtual Reality. Youngil Cho. World Design Summit 2017 held at Montreal, Canada (Scientific-peer-reviewed) 2017