A Web-based Survey to Evaluate the Aesthetic Impact of the Golden Ratio Gaganjit Singh Mario Verdicchio Mario Arrigoni Neri.

A Web-based Survey to Evaluate the Aesthetic Impact of the Golden Ratio

Gaganjit SinghMario Verdicchio

Mario Arrigoni Neri

Our objective

Perform an Internet survey

to check whether abstract designs based

on the golden ratio are preferred by our

subjects

Related work

A. Ajluni, C. Martin, and A. Yalamarthy,

“A Study on AdultFemale Human

Perception of the Golden Ratio in

Paintings using Psychological Survey”

vs.

Shortcoming

The compared paintings are different on so

many levels, we cannot attribute the

choice on the sole golden ration factor

More related work

A. Dumitrescu, “Experiment for the rediscovery of the

perfect proportion of rectangle”

Shortcoming

The use of cardboard rectangles

with different ratios hardly constitutes an aesthetic

experience

Moreover

Subjects of first test:105 Parisian womenSubjects of second

test:57 students

of a technical university

We wanted more

More subjects from different

contextsMore aesthetic

experience than isolated rectangles

but without too many other interfering

factors

To have more subjects

An Internet-based international survey

with invitations spread out

by means of email and social networks

To have more aesthetic experience focused on rectangles

A generative algorithm to create abstract compositions with

rectangles

Please check

cs.unibg.it/GenerativeTest

Test 1

vs.

Test 2

vs.

Test 3

vs.

Results660 test subjectsfrom 27 different

countriesRussia, UK, Italy,

India, Switzerland, Ukraine, USA,

Argentina, Germany, Canada, Greece, Japan, Sweden,

Belarus, France, Netherlands, Spain,…

Results

By far the biggest survey

on the golden ratio ever performed

Results

But…

Results 1

Goldenon the right

Goldenon theleft

58%wins

57%win

s

Results 2

58%wins

51%win

s

Goldenon the right

Goldenon theleft

Results 3

51%wins

41%lose

s

Interpreting the results

Although we tried to leave out any other

aesthetic factor than

the rectangle ratio there seem to be at

least two interfering issues

Space-filling [S]

Subjects prefer compositions that fill

the available space in a better way:

not too empty, not overcrowded

Ergonomics [R]

As most of the subjects are right-

handed (87%) when undecided

there is a tendency to click on the right

Interpreting the results

A combination of these two factors seems to offer an explanation

of the results

Results 1

+[S]+[R]

+[S]-

[R]

58%wins

57%win

s

Results 2

58%wins

51%win

s

+[S]+[R]

+[S]-

[R]

Results 3

51%wins

41%lose

s

Conclusions

Instead of providing indications on the golden ratio, our

test yielded two more hypotheses to test,

about composition and about ergonomy

Challenge

To design a test that isolates one of several

factors that affect

our aesthetic experience

Thank you