The Perception of Virtual Residential Spaces

This experiment examined how “warm” and “cool” video walkthroughs stimulated narratives. “Warm spaces” had red color schemes, whereas “cool” spaces were sparse with blue color schemes. In Part 1, 48 participants rated four “warm” and four “cool” walkthroughs on scales related to essential qualities of a home. “Warm” walkthroughs were more familiar, relaxing, and evoked more episodic memories compared with “cool” spaces. In Part 2, participants wrote story outlines set in two “warm” and two “cool” walkthroughs from “first” (Self) or “third-person” (Other) perspectives and rated their story-writing experiences. It was easier to write stories and more episodic memories were evoked in the Self condition. Stories were seen as less resolved when written from the Self perspective and set in “warm” spaces. The story outlines were qualitatively analyzed and frequency of the categories was determined. The evocative qualities and episodic memories evoked by the spaces were projected into the narratives.