Investigating Subjective and Physiological Effects of Color Temperature and Visual Thermal Cues in Virtual Reality

Virtual reality enables immersion in any environment. According to the hue-heat hypothesis, an environment’s color temperature influences thermal perception and regulation, factors important for productivity and energy consumption. Previous work suggests that visual thermal cues, e.g., snowy or desert environments, affect thermal perception and regulation. As color temperature was not controlled, it is unknown if hue or thermal cues caused the effects. In our first study, we derived two virtual environments with cold or warm thermal cues. In the second study, participants experienced these environments with varying hues for 5 minutes. We found that hue influences thermal sensation and thermal cues influence sensation, comfort, and skin temperature. As these effects seem to increase beyond 5 minutes, a third study with longer exposure and more extreme hue differences confirmed and extended these findings. Overall, our results consistently show that hue and visual thermal cues independently affect thermal perception and regulation. This highlights the importance of considering both when designing virtual environments.