Rethinking infrastructure design: evaluating pedestrians and VRUs' psychophysiological and behavioral responses to...

Area of Science:

• Human-computer interaction
• Transportation engineering
• Virtual reality applications

Background:

• Increasing automation in built environments necessitates understanding human perception and response to new systems.
• Vulnerable road users, particularly pedestrians, require specific consideration in infrastructure design.
• Evaluating novel infrastructure requires methods that capture both subjective and objective user responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate an Immersive Virtual Environment (IVE) method for evaluating pedestrian infrastructure.
• To assess psycho-physiological and behavioral responses to different mid-block pedestrian crossing designs.
• To compare user perception and objective measures across various crossing technologies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an Immersive Virtual Environment (IVE) to simulate pedestrian crossing scenarios.
• Recruited 51 participants to test three crossing designs: painted crosswalk, flashing beacons, and a smartphone app for connected vehicles.
• Collected subjective safety ratings, psycho-physiological data (heart rate, eye tracking), and observed behavioral responses.

Main Results:

• Subjective safety ratings were highest for the flashing beacon design.
• Objective data (behavioral, eye tracking, heart rate) showed similar effectiveness between flashing beacons and the smartphone app.
• The smartphone app demonstrated lower stress indicators in eye tracking data, despite participants' lack of prior experience.

Conclusions:

• IVEs provide a valuable tool for evaluating pedestrian infrastructure and user responses.
• Technological interventions like flashing beacons and smartphone apps show promise for enhancing pedestrian safety.
• Future implementation should focus on increasing public acceptance and integrating new technologies to improve pedestrian safety.