Hospitalisation is stressful for children. Play material is often offered for distraction and comfort. Weexplored how contact with social robot PLEO could positively affect a child’s well-being. To this end, we performed a multiple case study on the paediatric ward of two hospitals. Child life specialists …

Teachers and students need good learning environments to perform well. In this study it is pre-supposed that the spatial properties of classrooms can contribute to the quality of the educational process. Thermal, acoustic and visual conditions and indoor air quality (IAQ) may be extremely powerful in …

Thermal comfort in operating theatres is a less addressed research component of the in-door environment in operating theatres. The air quality naturally gets most attention when considering the risk of surgical site infections. However, the importance of thermal comfort must not be underestimated. In …

Since it is insufficiently clear to urban planners in the Netherlands to what extent design measures can reduce heat stress and which urban spaces are most comfortable, this study evaluates the impact of shading, urban water, and urban green on the thermal comfort of urban spaces during hot summer afternoons. …

XoSoft is a soft modular wearable assistive exoskeleton for peo- ple with mild to moderate gait impairments. It is currently being developed by a European Consortium (www.xosoft.eu) and aims to provide tailored and active lower limb support during ambu- lation. During development, user-centered design …

To understand how transition across different thermal zones in a building impacts the thermal perception of occupants, the current work examines occupant feedback in two work environments — nursing staff in hospital wards and the workers in an office. Both studies used a mix of subjective surveys and …

This paper aims to address higher education students’ learning space preferences. The study is based on a survey that involved 697 business management students of a Dutch University of Applied Sciences. The research focuses on preferred learning spaces for individual study activities, which require concentration, …

Worldhotel Grand Winston, onderdeel van Worldhotels is een zakenhotel in Rijswijk waar jaarlijks meer dan veertienduizend zakelijke gasten verblijven. Sommige van deze gasten zijn niet tevreden over hun verblijf zoals blijkt op hotelbeoordelingsinternetsites. Het management van het hotel wil weten waar …

This paper explores the impact of the physical and social dimensions of the work environment on  satisfaction and perceived productivity of knowledge workers in Dutch universities of applied sciences. The approach took the form of a literature review, multiple case study of six research centres using …

Nowadays, modern societal trends and technologies enable us to live our lives with comfort and fun. On the one hand, these developments enhance quality of life, on the other hand there are downsides related to our health and happiness. Therefore, in our current society, it is necessary that parents consciously …