Using graphic psychology and spatial design to intervene in balance coordination in patients with balance disorders

• Published in: Journal of Asian architecture and building engineering 2024, p.1-18
• Main Authors: Li, Weicong, Liu, Yueling, Lv, Huabin, Ma, Yue, Shi, Wenwen, Qian, Yun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: balance disorder; graphic psychology; spatial design; spatial orientation; visual perception
• ISSN: 1346-7581; 1347-2852
• DOI: 10.1080/13467581.2023.2300395

Although there have been reports of potential correlations between balance function and the visual nerve, or between the visual nerve and the spatial environment, the interrelationship between the three remains blurred, particularly in terms of “how the spatial environment acts on human balance through its effects on visual and psychological states.” This study constructs the relationship between gait abnormalities, postural sway of balance disorder patients, and the environment using a qualitative study of literature analysis, and discusses the potential and possibilities of spatial intervention in assisting human balance. Findings: 1) most elderlies rated their sense of self-balance as moderate or poor, while fewer reported themselves as very poor; 2)it is possible to compensate for human dynamic equilibrium by grasping the relationship between spatial composition (visual space of points, lines, and surfaces) acting on the demand for visual and psychological equilibrium and may do so by influencing the relationship between the dominance of spatial elements (spatial planes, facades, floors, and furnishing combinations) on visual and psychological regulation. However, the complexity of the scene increases the visual cognitive load, which will increase the difficulty of visual involvement in equilibrium regulation, which in turn may affect the equilibrium mechanisms based on behavioral responses.