How Computational Methods Contribute to the Study of Human Perception and Cognition? – Daniel Tang

This presentation examines how computational methods can extend the study of human perception and cognition within architectural contexts. It reflects on two empirical projects that combine qualitative human responses with quantitative spatial and visual analysis. Project 1: Global and Local Visual Complexity and Cognitive Load (2024): 36 participants were invited to evaluate a series of architectural images. Subjective responses were collected through structured questionnaires. These perceptual evaluations were analysed alongside computational measures of visual complexity, including entropy measure, fractal dimension, and image segmentation. The study explores how variations in global visual complexity relate to participants’ perception of time duration and cognitive load. Project 2: 100 Minds in Motion (2025): 100 participants navigated a controlled indoor labyrinth environment at UCL’s PEARL laboratory. Positional tracking data were collected to examine movement patterns within a shared spatial configuration. Space Syntax analysis was applied to investigate how environmental structure influences behavioural dynamics under crowd conditions. Together, these projects demonstrate how computational approaches—ranging from computer vision to agent-based analysis—can bridge subjective experience and measurable environmental variables. The presentation reflects on methodological challenges and opportunities in translating qualitative perceptual data into computationally tractable models, and discusses how such integrations may contribute to a deeper understanding of cognitive processes in architectural environments.