838 - VISUAL PERCEPTION OF ADULT AND CHILD PEDESTRIANS IN A 360° VIRTUAL ROAD ENVIRONMENT.

Session: D13S002 - Cognitive and Perceptual Mechanisms in Traffic Behaviour 1
AUTHORS:
Gramaje Camille (University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, CLLE Laboratory ~ Toulouse ~ France) , Simoes-Perlant Aurelie (University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, CLLE Laboratory ~ Toulouse ~ France) , Lemercier Céline (University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, CLLE Laboratory ~ Toulouse ~ France) , Saint Pierre Guillaume (Cerema - ITS research team ~ Toulouse ~ France)
Abstract text:
Pedestrian children are a highly vulnerable population due to ongoing cognitive development and limited traffic experience (Barton et al., 2012; Association Mondiale de la Route, 2017). Compared to adults, they adopt more restricted visual exploration strategies, often neglecting peripheral cues essential for safe decision-making (Biassoni et al., 2018). In dynamic urban environments, flexible scanning and hazard anticipation are critical to reducing accident risk (Dommes & Cavallo, 2011; Hollmann, 2015).
This study introduces an innovative paradigm combining immersive virtual reality (VR) and eye-tracking to investigate hazard perception in child pedestrians. Participants are exposed to 360° urban traffic videos displayed in a VR headset with integrated eye-tracking, enabling precise recording of gaze behavior (Deb et al., 2017). This approach overcomes the ecological limitations of traditional 2D paradigms (Rosenbloom et al., 2015; Biassoni et al., 2018), allowing detailed measurement of attention and scanning patterns.
We expect children aged 10-14 to show longer reaction times, lower hazard detection rates, and narrower visual exploration than adults, reflected in fewer peripheral fixations and reduced spatial coverage. Adults are anticipated to adopt more global and flexible strategies, integrating multiple cues and updating gaze dynamically. Following individualized intervention based on adult "expert" profiles, children are expected to improve detection performance and reaction times while diversifying gaze trajectories toward more adult-like strategies.
The study will involve 30 children and 20 adults. Children will perform the task twice, before and after intervention, while adults provide reference profiles. Participants will view 40 immersive scenes and indicate hazards via button press. Eye-tracking data and reaction times will be analyzed to assess age-related differences and the impact of VR-based visual feed-back.
Data collection is planned for 2025/2026, and results will highlight differences in hazard perception between children and adults as well as the effectiveness of immersive feedback interventions.