About Sensola

Evaluating environments in situ has the potential of increasing the ecological validity, but also poses new challenges. The mission of the SLU Multisensory outdoor laboratory is to expand both our empirical and methodological knowledge of human-environment interaction.

The laboratory aims to adopt approaches that synchronize physical environment data with human response data. Information about the physical environment can be recorded by equipment such as GPS, video cameras, temperature sensors, sound level meters and field recorders. Human responses can be collected through questionnaires and/or through physiological measurements, including heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance and respiration.

Smart technology allows data collection over longer periods of time and with greater validity. The new infrastructure also facilitates comparisons between in-situ and controlled settings.​

International collaboration within Sensola

To support the development of the infrastructure, Sensola has a council of international researchers. The purpose of the council is to exchange knowledge and experiences and to collaborate on equipment issues, method development, research projects and other activities.

Members:

Femke Beute, PhD, LightGreen Health, Rena, Norway

Helena Nordh, Senior Lecturer, Department of Urban and Rural Development, SLU Uppsala, Sweden

James Simpson, Lecturer, Department of Landscape Architecture, The University of Sheffield, UK

Matilda van den Bosch, MD PhD, Associated Researcher ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain.

Sarah Payne, Associate Professor, The Urban Institute, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK