In our digital society, online research tools offer valuable opportunities for psychology and behavioral research education. These tools allow students to measure real-time emotional and cognitive responses, providing objective data that enhances traditional teaching methods. At the Chinese Tongji University’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning, a course incorporated FaceReader Online to teach students how to measure emotion and gaze behavior in urban design. The course provided practical experience in using neuromarketing tools, with students completing projects that analyzed real human responses to urban spaces.
The Role of Neuromarketing in Urban Design Education
It is important that cities are sustainable, safe, and healthy for their citizens. Urban design and planning focuses on shaping the physical layout and organization of cities, neighborhoods, and public spaces to improve quality of life, functionality, and social interaction. This field relies on understanding how people experience and interact with these spaces. People are not always processing their environment consciously. Thus traditional methods like surveys can miss subconscious emotional reactions. Neuromarketing tools, such as facial expression analysis and webcam eye tracking, offer objective, real-time data to complement subjective feedback.
This course aimed to give students hands-on experience with these tools, helping them connect theory to practice in human-centered design.
Course Structure and Student Projects
The course at Tongji University included hands-on projects, with 22 students working in 7 teams to explore how urban spaces influence emotion and behavior. Over four weeks, each team conducted a proof-of-concept study using FaceReader Online, producing a video, report, and presentation to showcase their findings. The topics were very diverse, ranging from comfort and safety perception of urban spaces to the design of building entrances.
Read more on two interesting projects here:
Gender Differences in Nighttime Safety Perception
This project explored how men and women perceive safety differently in nighttime environments. Students created images depicting urban scenes with varying degrees of spatial closure and lighting conditions. In addition, they examined whether participants would choose to continue along a route or take a detour in several images of a night environment.
Using FaceReader Online, students analyzed both survey and behavioral responses. They found that women were more likely to judge spaces as unsafe, exhibiting emotions like surprise and anger, while men showed more positive expressions. The project highlighted the need for inclusive design that considers diverse perceptions of safety.
Lighting and Attention in Shanghai Parks
Another team examined how light density in parks affects relaxation and vigilance. In this project, the participants viewed images of Shanghai parks under two conditions: low and high light density, while gaze tracking was measured.
Eye tracking visualizations show that in environments with low light density, participants tend to focus intensely on light sources and spatial edges. Conversely, spaces with high light density resulted in broader, evenly distributed gaze. This was interpreted in such a way that low light density increased vigilance, while higher, evenly distributed lighting promoted relaxation. The study emphasized the importance of lighting quality, not just brightness, in creating comfortable nighttime spaces.
Practical Tips for Educators
Overall, the projects gained relevant qualitative insights, and the students and educators were very enthusiastic about the results. For educators interested in setting up similar courses, these are important aspects to consider:
- Define Clear Objectives: Align projects with learning goals, such as understanding how to design an online neuromarketing study.
- Use Accessible Tools: FaceReader Online is user-friendly and doesn’t require other tools. It can be used to create a complete experiment with survey questions and randomization of stimuli. This makes it suitable for student projects.
- Encourage Hands-On Learning: Assign projects that allow students to apply the tools to real-world challenges.
- Provide Support: Offer training materials and sample studies to help students use the tools effectively. For example, use the benefits and best practises white paper, available here.
Conclusion
This course demonstrated how neuromarketing tools can enhance urban design education by providing objective data on human responses. It gives students the option to easily gain practical experience to enrich their research skills. For educators looking to integrate these tools, FaceReader Online offers a practical solution. With a FaceReader Online account, you can also create separate user accounts for students to supervise their projects along the way.
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