Do Augmented Reality Cues Aid Pedestrians in Crossing Multiple Lanes of Traffic? A Virtual Reality Study

ObjectiveThis study evaluated whether pedestrians can use augmented reality (AR) overlays to guide their road-crossing decisions when crossing two lanes of opposing traffic.BackgroundEmerging technologies for enhancing traffic safety often focus on alerting drivers to hazards. Less attention has been given to understanding how pedestrians respond to technology designed to aid their road-crossing decisions, particularly in more complex traffic.MethodParticipants repeatedly crossed two lanes of opposing traffic displayed in a virtual reality system. Participants in the AR condition viewed matching-colored bars (AR overlays) suspended just above the gaps between cars where there was sufficient time to safely cross a pair of near and far lane gaps. Participants in the control condition performed the same road-crossing task but saw no AR overlays.ResultsParticipants who viewed AR cues were more likely than participants who did not view AR cues to accept gap pairs classified as crossable and less likely to accept gap pairs classified as uncrossable. However, there was no difference between the AR and control conditions in time to spare when exiting the roadway. NASA Task Load Index (2020) responses indicated that perceived performance was higher and perceived frustration was lower in the AR than control condition, but perceived workload was higher in the AR condition.ConclusionThe AR cues helped participants identify crossable gap pairs but did not lead to greater time to spare when exiting the roadway.ApplicationThese results show both the promise and risks of assistive technologies designed to increase pedestrian safety in more complex traffic situations.