Mind-mapping a way-finding process; the use of portable EEG brain mapping in the analysis of the experience of everyday spaces

The notion of the experience of everyday spaces and environments has been addressed in a number of different ways by theorists, architects, urban planners, designers and artists. The effect of tangible elements of space (solid boundaries, volumes, forms) as well as the effect of less tangible elements (sounds, smells, memories) has been addressed by architects and has been examined through observation, video recording, interviews, questionnaires and inventive and revealing representational methods. The Situationists, for example, proposed a new – at the time - approach to mapping the experience of the city through the visual representation of different ambiences. Psychogeographers attempted to correlate the ‘solid’ elements of a geographical map with other fluid, less tangible, temporal, elements of space. With the evolution of technologies and media, the above enquires evolve further. In this context, we examine the use of portable EEG technology as an additional method for examining the human experience in everyday spaces. We draw links between what is happening in one’s brain and what is happening in the space around them with the intention to gain a better understanding of the human experience in different everyday environments. In this specific stage of our study, we analyse the brain activity of a number of participants along their journeys through university buildings, and we focus on key moments where they make way-finding decisions. We observe the key-patterns that the EEG recordings show in parts of their journeys where they are most concentrated/ making a spontaneous decision as to where to go/ feel relaxed and calm, and we associate those with external parameters to their environment. The findings are analysed through the collaboration of an architect and a neuroscientist; the use and potential applications of such findings is being currently explored further through a broader network of specialists.