A Virtual Reality Experiment to Study Citizen Perception of Future Street Scenarios

18 Pages Posted: 3 Oct 2023

See all articles by Javier Argota Sánchez-Vaquerizo

Javier Argota Sánchez-Vaquerizo

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS)

Carina Ines Hausladen

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS)

Sachit Mahajan

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS)

Marc Matter

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS)

Michael Siebenmann

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS)

Michael A. B. van Eggermond

University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW)

Dirk Helbing

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS)

Date Written: March 31, 2023

Abstract

The current allocation of street space is based on expected vehicular peak-hour flows. Flexible and adaptive use of this space can respond to changing needs. To evaluate the acceptance of flexible street layouts, several urban environments were designed and implemented in virtual reality. Participants explored these designs in immersive virtual reality in a 2x3 mixed factorial experiment, in which we analysed self-reported, behavioural and physiological responses from participants. Distinct communication strategies were varied between subjects.

Participants' responses reveal a preference for familiar solutions. Unconventional street layouts are less preferred, perceived as unsafe and cause a measurably greater stress response.
Furthermore, information provision focusing on comparisons led participants to focus primarily on the drawbacks, instead of the advantages, of novel scenarios.

When being able to freely express thoughts and opinions, participants were focused more on the impact of the space on behaviour rather than the objective physical features themselves.
Especially, this last finding suggests that it is vital to develop new street scenarios in an inclusive and democratic way: the success of innovating urban spaces depends on how well the vast diversity of citizens' needs is considered and met.

Keywords: virtual reality, street scenario, traffic, pedestrian, urban design

JEL Classification: C9, D91, R49

Suggested Citation

Argota Sanchez-Vaquerizo, Javier and Hausladen, Carina Ines and Mahajan, Sachit and Matter, Marc and Siebenmann, Michael and A. B. van Eggermond, Michael and Helbing, Dirk, A Virtual Reality Experiment to Study Citizen Perception of Future Street Scenarios (March 31, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4565113 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4565113

Javier Argota Sanchez-Vaquerizo (Contact Author)

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS) ( email )

Computational Social Science
Stampfenbachstrasse 48
Zurich, Zurich 8092
Switzerland

Carina Ines Hausladen

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS) ( email )

Stampfenbachstrasse 48
Zürich, 8006
Switzerland

Sachit Mahajan

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS) ( email )

ETH-Zentrum SEW E 26
CH-8092 Zurich, Zurich 8006
Switzerland

Marc Matter

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS) ( email )

ETH-Zentrum SEW E 26
CH-8092 Zurich, Zurich 8006
Switzerland

Michael Siebenmann

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS) ( email )

ETH-Zentrum SEW E 26
CH-8092 Zurich, Zurich 8006
Switzerland

Michael A. B. van Eggermond

University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) ( email )

Dirk Helbing

ETH Zürich - Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS) ( email )

ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Clausiusstrasse 50
Zurich, 8092
Switzerland

HOME PAGE: http://www.coss.ethz.ch

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