Sense of presence is a key element of the user experience in the study of virtual environments. Understanding it is essential for disciplines, such as architecture and environmental psychology, that study human responses using simulated environments. More evidence is needed on how to optimize spatial presence in simulations of built environments. A systematic review was conducted to define the use of sense of presence in research on human behavior in virtual spaces. Conceptualized dimensions, measurement methodologies, simulation technologies and associated factors were identified. The study identified a diversity of approaches and the predominance of subjective measures over sense of presence indicators. Several studies noted that environmental variables and spatial typologies had significant effects on presence. The results showed that different user profiles responded to stimuli in different ways. The results emphasized the importance of conceiving the construct in interrelation with the built context. A more comprehensive and multidisciplinary orientation is required to identify principles that optimize the spatial experience in virtual environments. This will be important for disciplines that research the human experience using virtual environments.

This study explores the emotional impact of residential architecture through the combined use of psychological and physiological measures. A neuroarchitecture field experiment was conducted in a real, fully equipped dwelling with a sample of 30 participants. The participants walked through the various rooms in the dwelling under both daytime and nighttime conditions. Emotional responses were assessed using the PAD model (pleasure, arousal, dominance), and physiological signals, electroencephalogram (EEG), heart rate variability (HRV) and electrodermal activity (EDA). Statistically significant differences were found across rooms, time of day and gender. Collective areas—such as the living room and entrance forecourt—were associated with higher levels of pleasure and dominance and lower physiological activation, while individual spaces—such as bedrooms and bathrooms—elicited higher physiological activity and lower psychological emotional responses, particularly among female participants. An inverse relationship was found between pleasure/dominance and physiological activation, suggesting that physiological indicators could serve as non-intrusive proxies for subjective well-being. Nighttime exposure was also linked to increased arousal, likely due to circadian disruption caused by artificial lighting. These findings underscore the importance of integrating objective and subjective measures in architectural evaluations, as they offer actionable insights for the design of emotionally supportive residential environments. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Open-plan offices are a common format in contemporary work environments, but their exposed nature may increase cognitive demands. Work pods and other enclosed microspaces have been proposed as an alternative. However, scientific evidence demonstrating that these isolated spaces effectively reduce cognitive load remains scarce. This study examines how workspace type influences mental workload by analyzing how cognitive load evolves across two spatial configurations (open-plan office and work pod) during typical office tasks. Twenty-six participants completed auditory, reading, and writing tasks while their brain activity was recorded using EEG. The results show that each spatial typology generates distinct patterns of cortical activation: in the open-plan office, neural activity progressively increased throughout the tasks, indicating a growing effort to maintain performance, whereas in the work pod activation levels decreased, suggesting reduced cortical effort required to sustain task. These findings provide neurophysiological evidence that spatial design directly influences the mental workload associated with office work.

Industrialized housing offers potential benefits in efficiency and sustainability compared to traditional construction methods, but public perception often remains negative due to a lack of familiarity. This study explores how prior information and knowledge influence perceptions of industrialized versus traditional housing. An online survey with 267 participants evaluated stimuli composed of an image of a house and a label (industrialized or non-industrialized). Results indicated no significant differences in perception based on visual appearance alone; however, the “industrialized” label was rated less favorably. This effect was more pronounced among those without expertise in industrialized construction. The study also revealed that providing objective prior information improved perceptions of personal and emotional attributes (e.g., cozy, family-friendliness, comfortable, well-being), but did not affect views on construction-specific attributes (e.g., quick-to-build, automated, or modular). These findings underscore the need for neutral and informative communication to counteract negative biases and enhance acceptance of industrialized housing. For the construction industry and policymakers, it is crucial to promote unbiased information and education to overcome resistance due to misconceptions and foster a more positive perception of the product’s features. Addressing concerns and clarifying benefits, these initiatives aim to shift public opinion toward recognizing the value of industrialized housing.

Evaluating the sense of presence experienced by users in virtual environments is crucial for understanding and improving their effectiveness. Questionnaires and self-report scales remain one of the most widespread methods for measuring presence. This study explores the main self-report tools used to quantify the sense of presence in virtual experiences. Standardized questionnaires such as the Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ) and the Slater-Usoh-Steed Questionnaire (SUS) were analyzed along with other instruments developed for specific populations or environments. The analysis highlighted the advantages of self-report measures such as their ease of implementation, low cost, and ability to capture users’ subjective experiences. However, it also identified challenges such as lack of standardization, reliability issues, and potential biases. More efforts are needed to develop robust instruments, cross-culturally validated and adapted to the latest technological innovations. A comprehensive understanding of how to accurately measure the sense of presence will be fundamental to harnessing the full potential of virtual reality in fields such as architectural design, neuroarchitecture, and environmental psychology.

Presence, one of the central constructs in the study of virtual reality and mediated experience, is widely held to manifest in behavior, yet it is measured predominantly through retrospective self-report. We argue for a more developed place for behavioral observation in presence research, and we make a specific proposal about how it should be carried out. Presence-relevant behavior is best treated, we propose, not as a set of continuously rated scale items but as a class of low-frequency, high-specificity event markers: discrete and infrequent behaviors in which a person responds to the virtual environment as if genuinely situated within it, read convergently across several marker types rather than relied upon individually; these markers must be kept distinct from device competence and task engagement, which are not indicators of presence. As a proof of concept we present an observational study of 48 children (aged 7 to 9) across 96 VR sessions in a naturalistic school setting, run across two contrasting physical contexts that differed in their ambient activity. The candidate markers behaved as a coherent, co-occurring set, were empirically separable from device competence and task-directed attention, and in the contrast that held VR content constant were more frequent where the physical environment competed less for the child’s attention, the direction the approach predicts if the markers track presence. We discuss the findings in dialogue with prior behavioral measures and with theoretical accounts of spatial presence, and outline the instrument design and the experiments to which the approach points.