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The design of Japanese gardens is a naturalistic style, and previous studies have shown the relaxation effects by viewing a Japanese garden. The purpose of this study is to find a trend of eye movement in viewing a Japanese garden and elucidate the relationship between eye movements and relaxation effects compared to a geometric garden.

A Japanese-style garden and a geometrically designed herbal garden were selected for the experiment. Participants' eye movement and heart rate were measured during their 5-min observation of the garden to assess their physiological responses. Additionally, POMS-SF was used to assess their psychological responses.

Pearson correlation analysis revealed a stronger significant correlation between eye movement data and relaxation mechanisms in the Japanese garden. Compared to the herbal garden, the Japanese garden had more fixations and faster eye movement speed, and better relaxation effects.

This study suggests that exploring the relationship between design, eye movement, and relaxation mechanisms from different perspectives of landscape design is feasible. For example, our results demonstrate that the layout of landscape elements, texture, details, and maintenance in the Japanese garden hold participants' longer attention, resulting in a better relaxation effect.

This study clarified how a garden design can manipulate eye movements to induce relaxing effects.