Occupant-centered indoor environmental quality management: Physiological response measuring methods

Abstract

Recent studies have reported that occupants' physiological responses can be indicators of indoor environmental quality (IEQ). As a result, there is an emerging demand for devices to measure physiological responses, especially in wearable form. Previous reviews suggested and analyzed physiological responses that are affected by IEQ and corresponding measuring devices, but a full-scale review on the proper measuring method to give directions for future research and development is still necessary. In this regard, this study reviewed physiological response measuring methods to give directions to the improvement of existing wearable devices and the development of future wearable devices. Physiological responses related to IEQ were identified from review papers published over the last 10 years, and their measuring methods were classified based on locations of measurement, availability of wearables and existence of reference. Then each classification was analyzed and evaluated by four kinds of requirements for wearables in order to propose directions and guidelines for developing future wearable devices. This review is expected to be the guidelines to measure physiological responses for the future IEQ research and contribute to the development of the wearable devices that can be applied to monitoring or controlling IEQ in the future.