Beyond Green Labels: Exploring Comfort Perception In Educational Spaces Through Immersive Virtual Reality

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Archnet-Ijar International Journal Of Architectural Research

Publication Date

4-10-2026

Abstract

PurposeThis exploratory study investigates how perceived comfort develops during a design-related task in a virtual reality simulation of an operational classroom. It examines how comfort changes across baseline exposure, physical-control and lighting-control conditions, and a placebo-like condition involving fade-back within a simulated occupied-building context.Design/methodology/approachTwenty-one students completed a design-related task across four sequential VR environments that varied in opportunities for environmental adjustment. Post-experiment interview data were analyzed qualitatively, with descriptive quantitative patterns used to support interpretation of comfort, perceived control, and awareness during task-based immersion.FindingsComfort relied mainly on visual and emotional cues during baseline exposure, broadened when participants used physical-control options, and was maintained in the lighting-control condition. Lighting influenced comfort but did not exceed the effects of physical-control options. The fade-back in the placebo-like condition was rarely noticed, suggesting that perceived control may shape comfort more strongly than the continued presence of specific environmental cues.Practical implicationsVR-based symbolic cues may offer an exploratory, low-energy supplementary approach to supporting perceived comfort in educational spaces where physical control is limited.Originality/valueThe study introduces an exploratory, task-based VR framework that examines comfort as a dynamic process shaped by perception, perceived control, and user agency within a simulated occupied-building context. It extends prior VR comfort research by combining baseline exposure, participant-selected physical-control and lighting-control conditions, and a placebo-like condition involving fade-back within a single staged sequence.

ISSN

2631-6862

Publisher

Emerald

Disciplines

Art and Design | Education

Keywords

Operational classroom, Adaptive comfort, Perceived control, Perceptual expectations, Virtual reality, User agency

Indexed in Scopus

no

Open Access

no

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