Presentation
Assessing the Effectiveness of Vulnerable Road User Alerts via Personal Listening Devices in an Immersive Crosswalk Environment
SessionPoster Session 2
DescriptionThe study explores the use of personal listening devices (PLDs) as navigational aids to deliver safety alerts to vulnerable road users (VRUs) in a virtual reality environment. With the rise of electric vehicles (EVs), pedestrians face increased risk as EVs emit significantly less noise than conventional vehicles, reducing the auditory cues typically used to judge safe crossing opportunities. Thirty-one participants completed 24 simulated crosswalk trials in a virtual reality environment created with Unreal Engine 4.26. The scenario replicated a campus street with two vehicles and a safe crossing gap. Participants received verbal and dissonant auditory alerts through both open-ear and closed-ear headphones. An experimental platform, the Tesseract, generated realistic street noise and integrated it with the VR scene, while Cycling ’74 Max software controlled auditory delivery. Visual conditions alternated between day (with cues) and night (without cues), altering visibility of the crosswalk. Findings demonstrate how auditory alerts, delivered via air and bone conduction headphones, influenced pedestrian reaction and crossing behavior. This research provides insight into designing effective PLD-based V2P systems, supporting urban planners, safety regulators, and developers in enhancing pedestrian safety in EV-dominated environments.
Contributor
Event Type
Poster
TimeWednesday, October 15th5:30pm - 6:30pm CDT
LocationRiverside East
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