Comparative Evaluation of Neural Network Architectures for Generalizable Human Spatial Preference Prediction in Unseen Built Environments

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Doctorarastoo, Maral, Flanigan, Katherine A., Bergés, Mario, McComb, Christopher
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866911206761037824
author Doctorarastoo, Maral
Flanigan, Katherine A.
Bergés, Mario
McComb, Christopher
author_facet Doctorarastoo, Maral
Flanigan, Katherine A.
Bergés, Mario
McComb, Christopher
contents The capacity to predict human spatial preferences within built environments is instrumental for developing Cyber-Physical-Social Infrastructure Systems (CPSIS). A significant challenge in this domain is the generalizability of preference models, particularly their efficacy in predicting preferences within environmental configurations not encountered during training. While deep learning models have shown promise in learning complex spatial and contextual dependencies, it remains unclear which neural network architectures are most effective at generalizing to unseen layouts. To address this, we conduct a comparative study of Graph Neural Networks, Convolutional Neural Networks, and standard feedforward Neural Networks using synthetic data generated from a simplified and synthetic pocket park environment. Beginning with this illustrative case study, allows for controlled analysis of each model's ability to transfer learned preference patterns to unseen spatial scenarios. The models are evaluated based on their capacity to predict preferences influenced by heterogeneous physical, environmental, and social features. Generalizability score is calculated using the area under the precision-recall curve for the seen and unseen layouts. This generalizability score is appropriate for imbalanced data, providing insights into the suitability of each neural network architecture for preference-aware human behavior modeling in unseen built environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_10954
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Comparative Evaluation of Neural Network Architectures for Generalizable Human Spatial Preference Prediction in Unseen Built Environments
Doctorarastoo, Maral
Flanigan, Katherine A.
Bergés, Mario
McComb, Christopher
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Machine Learning
Multiagent Systems
The capacity to predict human spatial preferences within built environments is instrumental for developing Cyber-Physical-Social Infrastructure Systems (CPSIS). A significant challenge in this domain is the generalizability of preference models, particularly their efficacy in predicting preferences within environmental configurations not encountered during training. While deep learning models have shown promise in learning complex spatial and contextual dependencies, it remains unclear which neural network architectures are most effective at generalizing to unseen layouts. To address this, we conduct a comparative study of Graph Neural Networks, Convolutional Neural Networks, and standard feedforward Neural Networks using synthetic data generated from a simplified and synthetic pocket park environment. Beginning with this illustrative case study, allows for controlled analysis of each model's ability to transfer learned preference patterns to unseen spatial scenarios. The models are evaluated based on their capacity to predict preferences influenced by heterogeneous physical, environmental, and social features. Generalizability score is calculated using the area under the precision-recall curve for the seen and unseen layouts. This generalizability score is appropriate for imbalanced data, providing insights into the suitability of each neural network architecture for preference-aware human behavior modeling in unseen built environments.
title Comparative Evaluation of Neural Network Architectures for Generalizable Human Spatial Preference Prediction in Unseen Built Environments
topic Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Machine Learning
Multiagent Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.10954