Cognitively Grounded Floorplan Optimization to Nudge Occupant Route Choices

Abstract

Improving layout design focusing on human wayfinding is a non-trivial task because quantifying human perception of space during movement depends on multiple spatial attributes, such as the spatial arrangement of walls and the area of visible space. Existing approaches in computer-aided design have yet to leverage the role of architectural configuration to guide human route-choice behavior to support layout design. This paper presents a novel layout optimization framework grounded in spatial cognition to empower architectural designers to bridge the gap between computer-aided architectural design and spatial cognition research. To facilitate the proposed layout optimization, we introduce two mapping functions: (1) Between isovist measures and route-choice probability, and (2) from isovist measures to the geometry. These mapping functions serve as gradients to optimize the environment's partial-isovist measures by manipulating its geometry during each optimization iteration. We conduct a Virtual Reality (VR) study to analyze the relationship between human route choices and also isovist measures at decision points. The experimental data is used to derive associations between human route choices, the isovist measures, and changes in floor plan geometry. A follow-up navigation experiment is conducted in VR to compare human wayfinding behavior across baseline, automatically optimized, and manually optimized layouts. Finally, a complementary study for the aesthetics evaluation of layouts is conducted with architectural experts. The results indicated that our method could simultaneously improve wayfinding performances, adhere to the aesthetics of architectural experts, and improve the total non-navigable space allocated for rooms or shops depending on the building type. Our studies provide strong evidence in favor of integrating human-centered criteria based on insights from spatial cognition research to inform floor plan optimization and enhance the quality of built environments.