Nature is an under-recognised healer, a recent report from the European environmental policy (IEEP) concluded. And indeed, academic studies have shown that nature heals and improves mental functioning and, as such, is one of the most important determinants of wellbeing. At the same time, there is a lack of insights into which specific elements of nature are important. As a result, few nature-based design interventions are evidence-based. The goal of this session is to show how to develop an evidence-based design approach to human flourishing. Organisers: Karin Tanja-Dijkstra, Thomas van Rompay, Geke Ludden Moderator: Karin Tanja-Dijkstra Nature and human flourishing Exposure to nature is fundamental for inspiring mental states conducive to mental health and psychological wellbeing including creativity, inspiration, and wonder. We are now just beginning to understand why and what it is in nature that is so beneficial. In this session, Thomas will review these findings and highlight their design implications. Speaker: Thomas van Rompay Nature in the healthcare environment Based on the knowledge of the health benefits of nature in clinical environments, Karin will discuss several research challenges, introduce novel research ideas, and share results of recent projects where she demonstrates how nature-based interventions can provide further evidence of the benefits of nature in healthcare. Speaker: Karin Tanja-Dijkstra Designing nature-based interventions Geke explores how insights from nature research can be applied in design for health and wellbeing. She reviews projects ranging from design interventions aimed at providing a restorative experience during work, to the design of nature-based content aimed at improving patient experience in the ICU. Speaker: Geke Ludden, Dana Weidemann

2. Moderator: Karin Tanja-Dijkstra
DRIVE I
THE HUMAN TOUCH

3. WELCOME & INTRO
Karin Tanja-Dijkstra
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4. PROGRAM
11.30 – 12:30 Nature Meets Design
12:30 – 13:30 Break
13.30 – 14:30 UPPS
14:30 – 15:00 Break
15:00 – 16:00 Meaningful Data & Smart Fashion

5. NATURE MEETS DESIGN
- A NATURE-BASED DESIGN
APPROACH TO
HUMAN FLOURISHING

6. NATURE AND HUMAN FLOURISHING
Thomas van Rompay
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7. Walk in Nature
Autumn bliss; light, colors, smells, patterns, depth…

8. Institute for European environmental policy (IEEP)
“Nature is under-recognized healer”

9. Theory pt. 1
Soft fascination and restoration
§ Soft fascination and attention
restoration (ART; Kaplan &
Kaplan 1989).
§ Idea: nature is healer because
it allows for rebooting of
attention mechanism.
§ Soft fascination principle:
nature is fascinating (rich,
complex) but at the same time
soft on attention mechanism.

10. Design challenge
§ How to make nature accessible to people who have no access to nature? (people in hospitals,
frail elderly at home, or office workers).
§ UT’s Tech4People program: Design of evidence-based virtual nature environment.
- Follow-up in ZonMW project focusing on lonely elderly at home (ZonMW – CREATE HEALTH).
- VR environment: ‘research tool’ allowing for systematic variations of nature features.
§ But which nature features?
- Pretests with VR environment: importance of spaciousness and subtle displays of motion/
movement that allow for sustained attention to scene.

11. Virtual Nature Environment

12. From last year @DDW
Virtual Nature at care center for people with dementia
§ Design goals:
- Design for relaxation and social
engagement.
§ Two layers:
- Still layer presenting spacious scene.
- Animated layer presenting subtle
movement (birds or clouds rolling by).
- Still enthusiastically used today at
Zorggroep Sint Maarten.

13. § Central element in theorizing:
importance of prospect, vastness,
extent, spaciousness.
§ Research: interactions where
people feel ‘small’ in relation to
vast, spacious scenes inspire
awe and increase pro-social
behavior (e.g., Piff et al., 2015).
§ Underlying principle: sense of
collective self emerges and small
self diminishes.
§ Related measures of interest:
sense of time; ‘time slows down’.
Theory pt. 2
Spaciousness, awe and the small self

14. Next Steps
§ Fine-tuning of virtual nature environment and usage as research tool.
§ Design-research challenges:
- How to design for soft fascination?
- How to design spacious scenery? (might also be boring/desolate).
§ Valorization:
- Seek partners to make bridge from science to design practice (e.g., stay tuned for presentation
of Dana’s work at Philips).

15. NATURE IN THE HEALTHCARE
ENVIRONMENT
Karin Tanja-Dijkstra
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16. 1. Nature in healthcare – research
2. Trend: Nature & Virtual Reality
3. Chemotherapy outdoors: an evalua>on

19. 0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
Pain
Standard care
Urban VR
nature VR
Tanja-Dijkstra, K., Pahl, S., White, M. P., Auvray, M., Stone, R. J., Andrade, J., ... & Moles, D. R. (2017).
The Soothing Sea: A Virtual Coastal Walk Can Reduce Experienced and Recollected Pain. Environment and Behavior

20. Chemotherapy outdoors: A biophilic design approach
Tanja-Dijkstra, K et al. Chemotherapie in de tuin. Nederlands TijdschriR voor Oncologie, 14:175-181.

21. “But I thought, why change a room when you
can go outside, to a much beer environment,
breathe some fresh air and be surrounded by
plants and flowers? ”

24. Ques>onnaire; 62 pa>ents

25. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Very
positive
Positive Neutral Somewhat
negative
Indoors
Outdoors
Does this environment influence your well-being in a posi>ve or nega>ve way?

26. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Indoors
Outdoors
Nature connectedness
Indoors: 1.84
Outdoors: 2.79

27. Chemotherapy outdoors?
• pa>ents support this innova>ve way of healthcare delivery outdoors
• ini>al indica>ons that this interven>on can have a posi>ve effect on
pa>ents’ well-being

28. Research
Nature-based
interven>ons
Research
Improved
nature-based
interven>ons

29. DESIGNING NATURE-BASED
INTERVENTIONS
Geke Ludden & Dana Weidemann
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30. DESIGNERS & NATURE
PRODUCT DESIGN
3D printed steel bridge – Joris Laarman

31. DESIGNERS & NATURE
PRODUCT DESIGN
Solar Tree – Ross Lovegrove Vitaflower - IDEO

32. NATURE MEETS DESIGN
DESIGN APPROACHES
Design approaches
Macro level: objects or processes observed in nature are copied
Micro level: analyses of low-level features in natural s>muli
Research-based: translate findings into nature’s working
Mul>sensory Design
Can we translate the beneficial effects of nature on people’s wellbeing to design?
And if so, how?

33. NATURE MEETS DESIGN
DESIGN APPROACHES
Can we translate the beneficial effects of nature on people’s wellbeing to design?
And if so, how?

34. Introduc4on
• Gradua>on student
• Industrial design engineering
Human technology rela5ons

35. Evidence based approach

36. Goal

37. Design direc4on

38. Target group

39. Target group
• Cri>cally ill pa>ents
• Life support
• Con>nuous
monitoring
• Surgery
• Emergency room
Focus on func>onality •
Hec>c •
Sounds •
Medical equipment •
Pa>ent Intensive Care Unit

40. Delirium
“an acute mental disturbance characterized by confused thinking and
disrupted aen>on usually accompanied by disordered speech and
hallucina>on”
"Delirium." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2017.

41. Delirium
Risk factors
Symptoms
Cri>cal health issues
Disrupted day / night rhythm
Stress
Pain
Sensory depriva>on
Hallucina>ons
Confused in >me and place
No sleep
Hyper / Hypo ac>ve

42. Product

43. VitalSky
Luminous ceiling
• Low resolu>on LED screen
• Provides light for circadian rhythm
• Play video content

44. Product proper4es
• No black
• Low resolu>on
• Curve
• On the ceiling
Usual VitalSky
Usual VitalSky

45. 1. Fascinate pa>ents by the video content.
2. Distract the aen>on from their pain and worries.
3. Pa>ents feel less stressed and need fewer drugs.
4. Decrease the chance on delirium
Intended effect

46. Research

47. Research
Content
Sesng
Details

48. SeDng

49. SeDng
Kaplan & Kaplan 1989

50. SeDng
Kaplan & Kaplan 1989

51. Mystery and Complexity
Complexity

52. Example

53. Example

54. Affordance
Being able to walk around and explore the environment.

55. Affordance

56. Affordance

57. Research

58. • An iden>fiable object should be present in the
image to perceive the scale in the image
• Important objects in the image should not overlap
• Images of real nature landscapes should be used
• Contras>ng colours for different elements should
be used
• The image should be able to excite viewer’s
imagina>on in some extent
Guidelines

59. Test

60. Conclusion
Designed fascina>ng content for a specific target
group and product.
Redesigned landscape pictures as per guidelines
to op>mize the restora>ve effect.

61. Interested?
Contact me on LinkedIn
Dana Weidemann

62. KEY
INSIGHTS

63. NATURE MEETS DESIGN
Nature inspires designers and it will con>nue to do so
Transla>on from fundamental knowledge to design is needed
Design approaches need to be further explored and evaluated
Nature-based interven>ons need empirical tes>ng
A NATURE-BASED DESIGN APPROACH TO HUMAN FLOURISHING

64. Karin Tanja-Dijkstra @KaarTD
Thomas van Rompay @thomasromy
Geke Ludden @GekeLudden
Dana Weidemann LinkedIn
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION