Rush hour, a wheelchair user almost nudged out of their chair onto a packed platform at Stratford. At London Bridge train station, a carriage’s door slides open, alighting and boarding commuters clash as impatience swells. Pregnant women are in the mix of the phalanx, their precious extensions bumped into and ignored by the hurrying crowd. At the Dagenham East train station, an elderly woman labours up the stairs, a young man hurries past her, almost knocking her over as a we

UCL PEARL will be conducting an experiment from 12th to 18th December that aims to investigate how humans perceive floors and objects using limited, low-resolution visual information while walking. We are currently looking for male participants who are over 18 years old. If you are interested in taking part in this experiment, please click on this link . You will be asked a range of questions on a form to determine if you are eligible for this experiment. There will be a £50

Are we looking to the future with tunnel vision? PEARL was created to reconsider the future with a broader vision. Sciences give us a better understanding of the present; the arts give us a better conception of the future; engineering enables this to happen now… Why is PEARL so different from other research facilities? When people visit PEARL for the first time, they are generally and genuinely amazed. They are usually already aware of what it looks like, often from images on

An autonomous shuttle bus being tested in PEARL for its interactions with pedestrians and scooter riders in the EIT Urban Mobility Living LAPT project (Image: Bani Alvari) There is a lot of concern being expressed about how quiet electic vehicles are and what this means for pedestrian safety. I always wonder about this. Why are we worried about cars being so quiet, when there is an overarching sense that cities are too noisy? I think the answer to this is actually quite deep.

The Empathy Machine, image: Sara Adhitya Today is World Psoriasis Day and PEARL's latest ASPIRE project, the Empathy Machine , is helping raise much needed awareness of chronic illness such as psoriasis. A collaboration with Artist and Artistic Director of Creative Health Camden Antonia Attwood, the Empathy Machine is an example our how the Arts can sup the Sciences and help facilitate knowledge exchange between patients and their health practitioners. Much more is needed th

Call for Participants Open: UCL is carrying out research for Transport for London to investigate whether such an environment (see title) might provoke unintended responses and reactions in people with sensitivities to visual stimuli.   Photo credit: Storyblocks We seek to recruit individuals over the age of 18 who are “sensitive to immersive visual environments”. To help us ensure we include as diverse of a group as possible, please use the link that best describes your con

UCL PEARL Working Paper August 2025   Nick Tyler   I look at the world, and thus dementia (and other!) situations from a combination of...

Update: the call for expressions of interest is now closed. We are seeking expressions of interest for taking part in an experiment at...

As we increase the sophistication of our capabilities in using the facilities in PEARL, it is becoming clearer that the 'usual' way of...

Update: Recruitment has now closed. There will be an experiment at PEARL on the 8th of July  that will seek to understand how the built...

Simulating different acoustic environments at PEARL UCL PEARL (Person-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory) and the Royal College of...

There will be an experiment at the UCL Person Environment Activity Research Laboratory (PEARL) from the 23rd to 27th  of June that will...

A London bus stop... a forlorn shed that comes abuzz during rush hour and returns to its solitude of silence when commuters depart for...

Although he called it a hierarchy in his 1943 paper, he stated that there were many exceptions to this. Cindy Blackstock (2011) ...

On Friday, 14 March, UCL Person-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Dagenham East hosted the inaugural Dagenham and...

What happens when east Londoners, UCL researchers, and artists come together to explore how we could live easier, happier lives? From our...

PLEASE NOTE: All spaces have now been filled. If you would like to recieve announcements for future experiments and events please join...

The UCL People-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory (PEARL) is seeking people between the ages of 65 to 85 years to participate in a...

The UCL People-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory (PEARL) is seeking autistic adults to participate in a study taking place from...

This experiment has now been confirmed - please see the new blog post here. Original post: We are currently planning a potential...

Participants boarding buses inside PEARL as part of an experiment to determine how thermal comfort alters with different exterior...

NOTE: Recruitment has now closed! Please join our mailing list here  to receive future calls for participants We are conducting a study...

“ The artist is the person in any field, scientific or humanistic, who grasps the implications of their actions and of new knowledge in...