An Experimental Study on Intellectual Concentration Influenced by Indoor Airflow

Authors: Kyoko Ito, Shinya Furuta, Daisuke Kamihigashi, Kimi Ueda, Hirotake Ishii, Hiroshi Shimoda, Fumiaki Obayashi, Kazuhiro Taniguchi

Abstract:

In order to improve intellectual concentration, few studies have verified the effect of indoor airflow among the thermal environment conditions, and the differences of the season in effects have not been studied. In this study, in order to investigate the influence of the airflow in winter on the intellectual concentration, an evaluation experiment was conducted. In the previous study, an effective airflow in summer was proposed and the improvement of intellectual concentration by evaluation experiment was confirmed. Therefore, an airflow profile in winter was proposed with reference to the airflow profile in summer. The airflows are a combination of a simulative airflow and mild airflow. An experiment has been conducted to investigate the influence of a room airflow in winter on intellectual concentration. As a result of comparison with no airflow condition, no significant difference was found. Based on the results, it is a future task to ask preliminary preference in advance and to establish a mechanism that can provide controllable airflow for each individual, taking into account the preference for airflow to be different for each individual.

Keywords: Intellectual concentration, airflow, winter, experiment.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2363222

References:

[1] Niemela, R, Hannula, M, Rautio, R, Reijula, K, R. Jorma: The effect of air temperature on labor productivity in call centers-a case study, Energy and Building, Vol. 34, pp. 759-764 (2002).
[2] Fang, L, Wyon, D. P., Clausen, G., Fanger, P. O.: Impact of indoor air temperature and humidity in an office, Indoor Air, Vol. 14, pp. 74-81 (2004).
[3] Tham, K. W. : Effects of temperature and outdoor air supply rate on, Indoor Air, Vol. 14, pp. 119-125 (2004).
[4] Tsutumi, H., Tanabe, S., Harigaya, J., Nakamura, G., Iguchi, Y.: Effect of humidity on human comfort and productivity after step, Building and Environment, Vol. 42, pp. 4034-4042 (2007).
[5] Lan, L.,Wargocki, P., Lian, Z.: Quantitative measurement of productivity loss due to thermal discomfort, Energy and Buildings, Vol. 43, pp. 1057-1062 (2011).
[6] Miyagi, K., Oishi, K., Uchiyama, K., Ishii, H., Shimoda, H.: Proposal of intellectual productivity model based on work state transition, Proc. the 15th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, pp. 335-343 (2013).
[7] Akira Shimaoka, Kazuhiko Machida, Takashi Kumae, Kazuo Sugawara, Shigeyoshi Kurakake, Noriyoshi Okamura, and Junjirou Suemune: Seasonal Variation of Basal Metabolism, Japanese Journal of Biometeorology, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp.3-8 (1987) .(In Japanese)
[8] Zhai, Y., Zhang, H., Zhang, Y., Pasut, W., Arens, E., Meng, Q. : Comfort under personally controlled air movement in warm and humid environments, Building and Environment, Vol. 65, pp. 109-117 (2013).
[9] Morito Naomi, Nishimiya Hajime, Tsuzuki Kazuyo: Effects of Cool Airflow on Sleep and Skin Temperatures: Comparison of Two Types of Air-Conditioners by Human Subject Experiments, Transactions on the Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan, Vol. 35, No. 161, pp. 19-27 (2010). (In Japanese)
[10] Wyon, D. P. : The effects of indoor air quality on performance and productivity, Indoor Air, pp. 92-101 (2004).
[11] Takashi Akimoto, Junpei Masuda, Naoe Nishihara, and Shin-ichi Tanabe: Impacts of non-isothermal task conditioning system with individual control on thermal comfort and productivity, Journal of Environmental Engineering, AIJ, Vol. 69, No. 582, pp. 75-82 (2004).(In Japanese)
[12] Shin-ichi Tanabe, Tatsuo Nobe, Sueng-jae Lee, and Hideo Nishimura: Task/ambient conditioning system with isothermal air flow part 1 outline and subject experiment of isothermal task unit, Proc. the Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning Sanitary Engineers of Japan, pp.185-188 (2002).(In Japanese)
[13] Kimi Ueda, Shota Shimonaka, Hiroshi Shimoda, Hirotake Ishii, Fumiaki Obayashi: Quantitative Evaluation of Intellectual Productivity Considering Depth of Concentration, Proc. IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC), pp.758-763 (2017).
[14] Kazune Miyagi, Kosuke Uchiyama, Fumiaki Obayashi, Mikio Iwakawa, Hirotake Ishii, Hiroshi Shimoda: Proposal of Concentration index for Evaluating Intellectual Productivity, Transactions on Human Interface Society, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 19-28 (2014). (In Japanese)
[15] Akihiro Yamagishi, Tetsumi Hirokoshi, and Jin Ishii: Influence of vertical air temperature distribution on the human skin temperature and thermal sensation, Journal of Human and Living Environment, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 23-34 (1997).(In Japanese)
[16] Shi-ichi Tanabe: Evaluation of thermal comfort in housing, Housing Research Foundation Annual Report, pp.19-32 (1996). (In Japanese)
[17] Takeshi Nishimura and Kazunari Morimoto: Measurement method an condition of CFF as a reflection of psychic fatigue -relating to prolonged VDT work, Journal of Human Engineering, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 203-210 (1986).(In Japanese)
[18] Kunie Hashimoto: Psysiological meaning of the critical Flicker frequency (CFF) and some problems in their measurement -theory and practice of the Flicker test, Journal of Japan Society for Occupational Health, Vol. 5, No. 9, pp. 563-578 (1963). (In Japanese)
[19] Working Group for Occupational Fatigue of Japan Society for Occupational Health ed.: Handbook of Industrial Fatigue, Labor Standards Committee, 1988. (In Japanese)
[20] Tomohide Kubo, Norihide Tachi, Hidemaro Takeyama, Takeshi Ebara, Tatsuki Inoue, Toshimasa Takanishi, Yuko Arakomo, Gen-i Murasaki, Toru Itani: Characteristic Patterns of Fatigue Feelings on Four Simulated Consecutive Night Shifts by ”Jikaku-sho Shirabe”, Journal of Occupational Health, Vol. 50, No. 5, pp. 133-144 (2008).(In Japanese)
[21] Yuji Tanaka, Sumi Nakata, Katsuyuki Yamazaki, Kazumi Takada, Yo Miyata: Distribution of Type A behavior pattern in white collar workers: Application of KG’s Type A Questionnaire for Type A survey, Journal of Type A Behavior Pattern, Vol. 3, No.1, pp.68-73 (1992). (In Japanese)
[22] Kaneyoshi Ishihara, Akio Miyashita, Maki Inugami, Kazuhiko Fukuda, Katsuo Yamazaki and Yo Miyata: The results of investigation by the Japanese version of Morningness Eveningness Questionnaire, The Japanese Journal of Psychology, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 87-91 (1986). (In Japanese)
[23] Friedman, M. and Rosenman, R. H.: Association of specific overt behavior pattern with blood and cardiovascular findings ; blood cholesterol level, blood clotting time, incidence of arcus senilis, and clinical coronary artery disease, Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 169, No.12, pp. 1286-1296 (1959).