Abstract
The Hemi-sphere projection method produces an image that includes all surrounding visual landscape from a view point. This characteristic can solve the problem of perspective method that has only a limited view angle, and thus can be a potentially effective method for the analysis of visual landscape. This study tried to adopt the hemi-sphere projection method in the evaluation of streetscape, and examined its effectiveness and possibilities. Computer animations using the perspective method and the hemi-sphere method were produced for Bang-Hak Ro, Seoul, and the kames of the animations were reclassed to identify the visibility ratio of physical elements(buildings, sky and mountains). A preference questionnaire was given to 51 university students, and the relationships between the visibility ratio and visual preference were analyzed. The results showed that visual preference of streetscape can be explained by three factors: Openness, Uniformity, and Variousness, accounting for 63.2% of the total variance, and among which Openness showed the highest proportion at 32.1％. The visibility ratio calculated by the hemi-sphere method yielded strong correlation coefficients with Openness, and it was much higher than with the perspective method. The hemi-sphere method also produced significant correlation coefficients about Uniformity and Variousness, but the perspective method could not. The results demonstrated that the hemi-sphere method can provide more accurate observation of visual changes, and that it can be an effective method for the analysis of streetscape.
