INTRODUCTION: Objective measures like heart rate variability (HRV) and electrodermal activity (EDA) can provide valuable insights into autonomic processes related to emotional responses. A multidisciplinary effort by our team of urban planners, biomedical engineers, and environmental psychologists aims at developing a novel platform to aid decision-making in urban regeneration projects via the combined analysis of psychological and physiological data. This is part of a long-term vision of new cities that prioritizes cardiac and mental well-being through thoughtful urban design.
METHODS: 69 subjects walked along a guided route simulating the experience of students reaching the classroom buildings. Psychological responses were evaluated at specific points of interest applying the exp-EIA© - experiential Environmental Impact Assessment embedded in the CitySense® app. ECG and EDA electrodes continuously measured the subjects' physiological responses, whose significance, collection, and analysis are the focus of this work. The EDA signal was deconvoluted into its tonic and phasic components, and HRV point process modeling of the ECG-derived RR intervals was performed. The computed metrics of HRV and EDA have been strongly associated to autonomic system activity and have been previously used to identify emotional states. We specifically used the Emotional Index, a combined index of arousal and valence based on both tonic EDA and HRV, as well as Poincaré and spectral indexes of HRV (particularly, sympathovagal balance).
RESULTS: Friedman multiple comparison analysis of the metrics revealed statistically significant differences (spectral indexes: p < 0.001, Poincaré indexes: p < 0.05) in the cardiovascular and autonomic responses of test subjects across the different points of interest. Sympathovagal balance showed the highest significance (p = 1.4e-04), implying changes in autonomic activity during urban exploration. Such findings suggest that the evaluation of psychophysiological responses through analysis of cardiovascular signals can indeed offer insights into the perception of urban design implementations and promote well-being.