Experiences in city environments: Research is first to make use of VR to grasp pedestrian stress

April 22, 2025

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Experiences in city environments: Research is first to make use of VR to grasp pedestrian stress

A big-scale examine led by Bilal Farooq, civil engineering professor at Toronto Metropolitan College (TMU), is the primary of its form to make use of digital actuality (VR) to check pedestrian interactions and road crossing behaviors. The analysis pioneers using neurophysiological sensors to raised perceive pedestrian experiences in city environments. The work is printed within the journal Transportation Analysis Half C: Rising Applied sciences.

"We’re thinking about crafting safer, extra comfy city areas the place all modes of transportation can coexist," mentioned Farooq. "Our objective is to understand how pedestrians react to completely different eventualities and use that understanding to optimize city design and site visitors administration."

The examine, which concerned 171 contributors crossing a digital two-way road, highlights important findings such because the stress-reducing influence of road medians and age-related stress variations amongst pedestrians. Youthful contributors (18–24 years) appeared calmer than older contributors (55–65 years). This analysis represents information collected in Toronto and builds on earlier collaborative work with Newcastle College within the UK.

"Using digital actuality and neurophysiological senses inside it to check pedestrian habits is a comparatively distinctive strategy," mentioned Farooq. "Having a secure surroundings the place we will take a look at completely different variables and have a look at their impact ensures that folks's habits can be reasonable."

This examine is a part of a decade-long initiative to make use of VR for city analysis at an unprecedented scale.

Extra info: Mohsen Nazemi et al, Decoding pedestrian stress on city streets utilizing electrodermal exercise monitoring in digital immersive actuality, Transportation Analysis Half C: Rising Applied sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.trc.2024.104952

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