Effect of Observation of Wooden Wall Panels on Eye Fixation Related Potentials, Eye Movement and Sensory Evaluation

This study aims to evaluate the effect of basic design attributes included in wooden wall panels on humans by Eye Fixation Related Potentials (EFRPs) as physiological responses, by eye tracking, and by sensory evaluation. As visual stimuli, six wooden wall panel images were prepared, which contained different visual features such as knots, the direction of timber elements, and staggered-joints. These visual stimuli were displayed in their actual size (1016 mm×576 mm) on a large monitor, and 28 subjects freely observed each image for two minutes. During observations, the subjects' EFRPs from their occipital region and their eye movements were recorded continuously by an electroencephalograph and an eye tracker, respectively. In addition, sensory evaluation was conducted for each image after the free observation. In the sensory evaluation, there were significant differences in “preference” and “homogeneity” scores between knotty and flat wall images. EFRPs were affected by the arrangement of wooden elements rather than by knots in the wall panel images. Accumulated time or frequency of eye fixation revealed high visual inducement by knots.