Project Title:Inside the Consumer's Gaze: Analysis of Consumer Behavior in Supermarket Shelves Using Eye-Tracking and Emotional Analysis

Overview: This study investigates consumer behavior at supermarket shelves using eye-tracking and FaceReader technology. By analyzing visual variables like color, layout, and organization, the research explores how consumers visually explore shelves and perceive products. Key findings highlight the dominant role of color in facilitating rapid comprehension and the importance of clear structural organization for positive user experience. The study confirms that purchasing decisions are significantly driven by unconscious perceptual and emotional mechanisms, emphasizing the need for strategic visual merchandising. The findings emphasize that lighting quality is as critical as brightness in human-centered design.

Members: Cassy-Ann Chapuis (France), Naëlle Attigui (Switzerland), Merlin Rossignol (France)

Project Title: Relaxation VS Vigilance in Shanghai Parks

Overview: Using Shanghai's urban parks as a backdrop, this pilot study investigates how light density influences human perception, specifically the balance between relaxation and vigilance. By combining eye-tracking and FaceReader technology, the research analyzes gaze distribution and emotional valence under varying lighting conditions. Results indicate that low light density triggers concentrated visual attention and heightened vigilance, whereas high, well-distributed light density fosters broader gaze behavior and relaxation. The findings emphasize that lighting quality is as critical as brightness in human-centered design.

Members: Dato Lara Nicole (Philippines), Yaseen Alshamsi (UAE), Yanis Lalaina (Madagascar)

Project Title: Understanding House Entrances: Perception, Memory, and Spatial Cues

Overview: This project investigates how people perceive house entrances by combining subjective memory drawings with biometric data, including eye-tracking and facial recognition. The study explores spatial elements that contribute to safety, orientation, and invitation. Key findings reveal that step-free access, greenery, and clear visual markers like house numbers significantly enhance positive perception. Furthermore, adequate lighting proved crucial for night-time safety. The research demonstrates that entrances are emotionally charged spaces shaped by accessibility and atmosphere, rather than merely functional thresholds.

Members: Peer Otto Friedrich (Germany), Xiang Li, Clemens Laurin Fruth (Germany)

Project Title: Comfort and Safety Perception in Urban Space: The Role of Built Density and Human Crowding

Overview: Challenging the monolithic view of density, this research dissects the complex relationship between physical built environments and human crowds. By employing a two-dimensional framework, the team utilized eye-tracking and facial expression analysis to determine how these factors interact to shape pedestrian experience. The findings reveal a critical nuance: while social presence often signals safety in open plazas, it triggers stress and avoidance behaviors when confined within high-density built structures. The study argues for a balanced density approach to urban planning that accounts for these psychological thresholds.

Members: Clara Ann Valentine (Germany), Melvin Spoden (Germany), Ngoc Kim Dang (Germany) 

Project Title: The Impact of Landscape Elements on Street Safety Perception

Overview: What specific visual cues determine whether a street feels safe at night? Through an analysis of 24 representative nocturnal scenes, this project correlates gaze fixation data with subjective safety ratings to identify the primary drivers of environmental perception. The results isolate visual permeability and lighting quality as the most significant factors; well-lit, open sightlines consistently foster a sense of security, whereas dense vegetation and obstructed views lower perceived safety. Notably, participants ranked visual transparency as the highest priority for design intervention in night-time streetscapes.

Members: Wenjun Shen, Xinyun Li, Jiale Qi

Project Title: Architecture as a Main Character: How Spatial Interventions Can Influence Human Emotions

Overview: Moving beyond dialogue and plot, this experiment explores how architectural space itself acts as a narrative driver of human emotion. Using Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining as a case study, the team employed facial expression analysis and eye-tracking to measure physiological reactions to specific spatial interventions—such as symmetry, scale, and long, narrow corridors. The data revealed a tangible correlation between these oppressive architectural forms and peaks in negative emotional valence (fear/anger), suggesting that the very spatial tools used to induce tension in cinema can serve as cautionary guidelines for designing livable, comfortable environments.

Members: Loreto Blazquez (Spain), Jésus Palomino (Mexico), Thomas Maertens (Belgium)