My research focuses on how visual perceptual processes influence the impact of the built environment on people's cognitive and physiological states. In particular, I am interested in the role of peripheral vision in the experience of the built environment. My research started as an undergraduate with an experiment using virtual reality to measure how our physiological and cognitive responses to different types of environments changes depending on whether we experience the environment through peripheral or central vision. In my master's thesis, I conducted a series of experiments investigating the function of peripheral vision in early scene recognition and affective processing. My work also investigated how peripheral and central vision affect eye movement patterns as people fixate and explore scenes over an extended duration of time. Going forward in my doctoral work, I am interested in investigating the role of peripheral vision in processing prospect and refuge, and in turn how prospect and refuge influence experiences of atmosphere and behavioural decisions in different architectural spaces.
Office: Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology (PAS) building 2261
Email: j2srikan@uwaterloo.ca