Visibility Zones and Movement Trajectories in Relation to Student Activities and Dwell Time in a Campus Learning Commons: A Case Study of Learning Square at Meiji University

Learning Commons (LC) support student activities. This exploratory case study examined the LC on the second floor of Learning Square at Meiji University through video observation on one weekday. Movement trajectories, user activities, and dwell time were recorded under natural use conditions. Visibility zones were generated from spatial interfaces and examined together with seating configuration and observed movement trajectories. A total of 1903 passage events and 109 seating episodes were recorded. The floor supported seated use and movement between classrooms and vertical circulation elements. The Large-Group Table Seats and Table Seats had higher direct visibility from spatial interfaces and were located near areas with repeated overlap of movement trajectories. Conversation was more common in these two areas. The Counter Seats had lower direct visibility from spatial interfaces and a different spatial relationship to the observed movement trajectories, while computer and smartphone use accounted for most seating episodes. Among the complete seating episodes, the Counter Seats area had the highest mean dwell time. It also had the highest observed seat occupancy rate over the full observation period. However, Kaplan–Meier and RMST analyses showed no clear evidence of dwell time differences among the three seating areas. The findings describe one observed weekday and do not establish independent or causal effects of the spatial conditions.