Author(s):
Local wearable cooling may improve thermal comfort, emotion, and cognitionAbstract:Need: Extreme heat during summer could pose a threat to students’ thermal comfort and learning, especially in aging classrooms without adequate air conditioning. Since these classrooms may not be retrofitted soon and lack significant financial support for infrastructural improvements in the near future, it is imperative to explore alternative solutions that can be deployed inexpensively and widely.Guiding Question: The central question guiding this research is whether a local wearable cooling device can improve thermal comfort, emotional well-being, and cognitive performance, which are essential for learning in a hot environment.Outcomes: The local cooling is provided through wearable thermoelectric devices mounted on the upper back of a T-shirt. We assessed the effectiveness of the device with two groups of students. Both the control group and intervention group have 30 participants. The results show a significant improvement in thermal sensation upon the application of the proposed solution. Both local and whole-body thermal sensation scores exhibited notable decreases, notably, on the ASHRAE 7-point scale, local sensation dropped from 0.98 to 0.04, while whole-body sensation decreased from 1.37 to 1.12 over the 60-minute cooling period. These findings underscore the effectiveness of the cooling device in enhancing thermal comfort. Furthermore, participants in the local cooling group reported a substantial reduction in negative emotions, as evidenced by a decrease from 1.32 to 1.162 based on a 5-point Likert scale survey, although the corresponding increase in positive emotions from 3.02 to 3.14 was not statistically significant. Nevertheless, this shift highlights the potential of the local wearable cooling solution not only to mitigate physical discomfort but also to positively impact emotional well-being in hot environments. Moreover, cognitive performance analysis revealed intriguing insights, with participants in the local cooling group displaying a propensity towards risk-taking behavior, as indicated by a 7.14% increase in risk-taking responses in cognitive tasks. Additionally, the local cooling demonstrated improvements in other cognitive tests, potentially reducing perceived task load and enhancing performance in creativity, attention, working memory, and response inhibition, albeit not reaching high levels of statistical significance. While these findings hint at a promising positive effect of the local cooling device on cognitive functions, further research is essential to validate and establish their statistical significance conclusively.Broader impacts: The study highlights the potential of personalized cooling interventions to improve students’ thermal comfort and learning, which require optimal cognitive performance. Despite the uniqueness of the local cooling devices used in this study, the research underscores the potential of using low-cost personal cooling devices (e.g., small desk fan) to alleviate students’ thermal discomfort in classrooms lacking adequate cooling during extreme heat. This solution offers a short-term remedy until resources for building retrofits become available.
Coauthors
Mohamed Belyamani, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Shichao Liu, Worcester Polytechnic Institute;
