The use of geo-information technology analysis the impact of open spaces on the individual’s mental state

Abstract

The paper presents the possibilities of using digital elevation and terrain models to assess the impact of open spaces on the psychophysical state of a person. An approach to assessing the impact of the visible boundaries of the surrounding space is described, allowing the construction of virtual reality full-scale models of terrain with predetermined properties for personalization of psychotherapeutic scenarios. The first steps have been taken towards the creation of a methodology for assessing the aesthetic value of the landscape, from the standpoint of its direct influence on the psychophysical state of the observer. Thus, for three territories, fundamentally different in landscape conditions (high-rise buildings in New York, the highlands of the Alps and the gentle-hilly plain of the Central Russian Upland), the shape factor of the perceived space was calculated. It was done considering the surface curvature and the surface area of buildings using digital models of terrain and elevation in GIS. Through the coefficient of accommodation (AC), which compares the space form factor with a similarly calculated brain surface coefficient, the comfort of the environment for a particular person was assessed. In both examples of natural landscapes, AC takes values >0, which indicates comfortable conditions. Spaces with dense high-rise buildings (AC<0), have a more negative impact on the psycho-emotional state of the person. Although the changes in the accommodation coefficient of the perceived space along the route of observer’s movement depending on changes of volumetric area of visibility area was performed. It was found that the more varied the terrain, the more contrasting will be the response to the observer’s condition. The use of GIS-technology and 3D-modeling opens up the prospects of a new approach to the design of virtual reality, allowing to optimize and create personalized VR-programs of psycho-physiological correction.