The eye movement behavior induced by the design of a Japanese garden and its correlation with relaxation effects

Abstract

Purpose

The design of Japanese gardens is a naturalistic style, and previous studies have shown the relaxation effects by viewing a Japanese garden. The purpose of this study is to find a trend of eye movement in viewing a Japanese garden and elucidate the relationship between eye movements and relaxation effects compared to a geometric garden.

Design/methodology/approach

A Japanese-style garden and a geometrically designed herbal garden were selected for the experiment. Participants' eye movement and heart rate were measured during their 5-min observation of the garden to assess their physiological responses. Additionally, POMS-SF was used to assess their psychological responses.

Findings

Pearson correlation analysis revealed a stronger significant correlation between eye movement data and relaxation mechanisms in the Japanese garden. Compared to the herbal garden, the Japanese garden had more fixations and faster eye movement speed, and better relaxation effects.

Practical implications

This study suggests that exploring the relationship between design, eye movement, and relaxation mechanisms from different perspectives of landscape design is feasible. For example, our results demonstrate that the layout of landscape elements, texture, details, and maintenance in the Japanese garden hold participants' longer attention, resulting in a better relaxation effect.

Originality/value

This study clarified how a garden design can manipulate eye movements to induce relaxing effects.

Citation

Liang, T., Goto, S. and Sun, M. (2024), "The eye movement behavior induced by the design of a Japanese garden and its correlation with relaxation effects", Archnet-IJAR, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-04-2024-0128