Studying Physiological Responses of Pedestrians Crossing Uncontrolled Urban Roads using Virtual Immersive Reality

Abstract

We studied the physiological responses of pedestrians when crossing an uncontrolled street to quantify the incurred stress. To fulfill research objectives, virtual reality technology was used, which is suitable for eliciting and capturing pedestrian responses, in conjunction with an electrodermal activity sensor. A total of 136 individuals participated in the VR experiment, tasked to cross a two-way street under various experimental manipulations. Variable values were randomly selected to design 12 sessions for each participant. Aggregated arousal levels were measured at different locations when performing the experimental task. Subsequently, two trained analysts independently annotated the arousals to identify different stimulus. The linear mixed-effects models showed that participants incur more stress when they are on the street, compared to the sidewalk. “Crossing” was found to be the most prevalent label and the largest arousals were related to “accidents” and “fear of having an accident” labels, confirming the anecdotal evidence.