Environmental noise and electrodermal activity: measurements and limits of living lab experiments

The scientific literature showed that physiological measurements, especially electrodermal activity, are affected by a series of possible artefacts (movements, respiration), which makes them very challenging. More recently, physiological measures have been increasingly used to investigate the correlations between the psychophysiological sphere and some environmental characteristics, i.e., EDA response is being used to validate the potential of some places in terms of restoration. However, unlike laboratory experiments, measurements in real-life conditions involve additional difficulties. This paper discusses the limitations of searching the relationships between electrodermal activity and environmental sound by living lab experiments. The monitoring campaign results at six different spaces at Catholic University of San Antonio campus in Murcia, Spain, are compared. Results show that EDA measurements are strongly affected by emotion elicited in spaces for the community, while the correlations with sound environment increase in the sites where individual functions are performed.