Bright Colours Can Improve Lives In Urban Areas, Study Explains How

The study employed virtual reality to test the effects of vegetation and colourful patterns, & found that green vegetation caused volunteers to walk more slowly, while also increasing their heart rate

Introducing patches of vegetation or colourful patterns is one way of making cities more hospitable.

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Urban environments which appear dull can increase our stress, but nature soothes the soul. If one can get the best of both, urban environments will no longer increase people's stress. For instance, the colour and vegetation in cities could be increased. 

A new study describing the effects of vegetation and colourful patterns in an urban environment was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Virtual Reality. 

The study employed virtual reality to test the effects of vegetation and colourful patterns. It found that green vegetation caused volunteers to walk more slowly, while also increasing their heart rate. This indicates a pleasurable experience.

The colour patterns were observed to increase alertness, fascination and curiosity. The study shows how simple interventions can improve the lives of urbanites, and also illustrates the power of virtual reality to test such interventions.

How The Cityscape Can Bring People Down

Crowded streets, noise and drab grey buildings can lead to stress and fatigue and therefore, be bad for one's health and emotional well-being, the study said. However, an antidote to such problems may lie in nature. The antidote can have calming and restorative effects on people. This is because humans evolved in natural surroundings, and city life is a relatively new phenomenon.

Introducing patches of vegetation or colourful patterns is one way of making cities more hospitable. However, testing these approaches by installing plants or covering buildings in paint is expensive and inconvenient. Since a huge array of factors can affect the final results, studying these phenomena outdoors can be tricky.

In a statement released by Frontiers, Professor Yvonne Delevoye-Turrell, senior author on the study, said measuring pleasure and motivation in natural settings is difficult.he added that human reactions are sensitive to environmental changes, such as weather or traffic, and measurement biases. Consequently, the researchers used virtual reality as a proof of concept to measure reactions to these interventions in a simulated urban space.

How The Researchers Created A Virtual Urban Environment

The researchers created an immersive urban environment with either no vegetation or some green vegetation using virtual reality. Also, colourful patterns were introduced onto a path in the virtual environment.

According to the study, the researchers invited students at their university to participate in the study, and asked each student to wear a VR headset and walk on the path. Each headset included an eye tracker to determine where the volunteers were looking, and for how long.

How Vegetation And Colour Enhanced Wellbeing 

According to the study, the students walked more slowly when there was green vegetation present in the simulation, and their heart rate increased. Also, the students spent less time looking at the ground and more time observing their surroundings when green vegetation was present in the simulation. The results indicate a pleasurable experience. Similar results have also been found when people spend time near vegetation in the real world.

Though colour patterns did not have quite the same restorative effect as the green vegetation, they stimulated interest and fascination in the students. The colour patterns also attracted the students' gaze while increasing their heart rates. This indicates increased psychological arousal.

Virtual reality could be a very useful tool for urban planners, and would allow them to test the impact of various interventions virtually, the study showed. Also, increasing the amount of green vegetation and colourful designs in urban environments could enhance wellbeing in city dwellers, putting a new spin on the term "concrete jungle", the results suggest.

The scientists hope to make the VR experience even more immersive in the future to obtain the most accurate results. Delevoye-Turrell said odours and sounds could be the next step for VR to truly test the impact of colours on the pleasure of walking.