Teaching children road safety using a simulated environment

The importance of road safety education is widely acknowledged; however, there is a lack of consistency in road safety interventions currently being used in UK schools. Furthermore, the majority of road safety educational programmes use knowledge-based methods, which do not necessarily translate to improved behaviour in real traffic environments. The use of virtual reality is starting to emerge as a viable option, as it allows for repeated risk-free practice. This study aimed to test the efficacy and playability of a virtual reality road crossing iPad-based game with children aged 7-9 years. A total of 137 children from primary school years 3 and 4 completed the study. The game comprised ten levels increasing in complexity. Participants navigated to a target using a magic portal into the virtual world (the iPad position matching the direction of travel). Remote, anonymous in-game data were collected and the results suggested that performance was significantly better on their final attempt compared to their first attempt, regardless of age of gender. Overall, the results suggest that the iPad-based game allowed the children to practice road crossing in an immersive environment, without risk, and could provide a useful, evidence-based addition to current road safety education in UK schools

Parents' tolerance of risk in play and parents' country of birth predict children's abilities to assess risk: a pilot study with implications for occupational therapists

2019 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Importance: Many parents do not allow their children to engage in risky play despite its many benefits on health and development. Objective: We investigated to what extent parents' tolerance of risky play predicts children's abilities to assess risk in a virtual street-crossing task. Other factors that were examined include age, sex, motor coordination, mothers' education level, and parents' country of birth. Design: Correlational, cross-sectional pilot study. Participants: Nineteen children (11 boys, 8 girls; M age = 8 years) and their parents (9 immigrant; 10 native to U.S. or Canada). Outcome and Measures: Tolerance of Risk in Play Scale (TRiPS); Motor Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2); and virtual street-crossing task where we evaluated frequency of hits and close calls from virtual cars. Results: Parents' tolerance of risky play significantly predicted hits and close calls on the virtual street-crossing task (R2=.29, F(1,16)=6.52, p<.05). When all variables were forced into the regression analysis, parents' country of birth was the only significant predictor of hits and close calls (R2=.304, F(1,16)=6.99, p<.05). There was a strong correlation between parents' tolerance of risky play and parents' country of birth (r=.704, p<.01). Conclusions and Relevance: There was a co-occurrence for both parents' tolerance of risky play and country of birth as significant predictors of hits and close calls. This suggests that children whose parents have a higher tolerance for risky play are more likely to demonstrate safe pedestrian behavior. Additionally, children whose parents are immigrants, especially from Mexico, may be less likely to tolerate risky play, which may have a negative effect on children's abilities to cross the road safely. What This Article Adds: Occupational therapists can use these findings to encourage risky play opportunities through parent education to enhance children's abilities to assess risk and reduce chance of pedestrian injuries

Intelligent tutoring in virtual reality for highly dynamic pedestrian safety training

This thesis presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) with a Virtual Reality (VR) interface for child pedestrian safety training. This system enables children to train practical skills in a safe and realistic virtual environment without the time and space dependencies of traditional roadside training. This system also employs Domain and Student Modelling techniques to analyze user data during training automatically and to provide appropriate instructions and feedback. Thus, the traditional requirement of constant monitoring from teaching personnel is greatly reduced. Compared to previous work, especially the second aspect is a principal novelty for this domain. To achieve this, a novel Domain and Student Modeling method was developed in addition to a modular and extensible virtual environment for the target domain. While the Domain and Student Modeling framework is designed to handle the highly dynamic nature of training in traffic and the ill-defined characteristics of pedestrian tasks, the modular virtual environment supports different interaction methods and a simple and efficient way to create and adapt exercises. The thesis is complemented by two user studies with elementary school children. These studies testify great overall user acceptance and the system’s potential for improving key pedestrian skills through autonomous learning. Last but not least, the thesis presents experiments with different forms of VR input and provides directions for future work.Diese Arbeit behandelt den Entwurf, die Implementierung sowie die Evaluierung eines intelligenten Tutorensystems (ITS) mit einer Virtual Reality (VR) basierten Benutzeroberfläche zum Zwecke von Verkehrssicherheitstraining für Kinder. Dieses System ermöglicht es Kindern praktische Fähigkeiten in einer sicheren und realistischen Umgebung zu trainieren, ohne den örtlichen und zeitlichen Abhängigkeiten des traditionellen, straßenseitigen Trainings unterworfen zu sein. Dieses System macht außerdem von Domain und Student Modelling Techniken gebrauch, um Nutzerdaten während des Trainings zu analysieren und daraufhin automatisiert geeignete Instruktionen und Rückmeldung zu generieren. Dadurch kann die bisher erforderliche, ständige Überwachung durch Lehrpersonal drastisch reduziert werden. Verglichen mit bisherigen Lösungen ist insbesondere der zweite Aspekt eine grundlegende Neuheit für diesen Bereich. Um dies zu erreichen wurde ein neuartiges Framework für Domain und Student Modelling entwickelt, sowie eine modulare und erweiterbare virtuelle Umgebung für diese Art von Training. Während das Domain und Student Modelling Framework so entworfen wurde, um mit der hohen Dynamik des Straßenverkehrs sowie den vage definierten Fußgängeraufgaben zurecht zu kommen, unterstützt die modulare Umgebung unterschiedliche Eingabeformen sowie eine unkomplizierte und effiziente Methode, um Übungen zu erstellen und anzupassen. Die Arbeit beinhaltet außerdem zwei Nutzerstudien mit Grundschulkindern. Diese Studien belegen dem System eine hohe Benutzerakzeptanz und stellt das Potenzial des Systems heraus, wichtige Fähigkeiten für Fußgängersicherheit durch autodidaktisches Training zu verbessern. Nicht zuletzt beschreibt die Arbeit Experimente mit verschiedenen Formen von VR Eingaben und zeigt die Richtung für zukünftige Arbeit auf

Evaluation of PC-Based Virtual Reality as a Tool to Analyze Pedestrian Behavior at Midblock Crossings

The aim of this research was to analyze if current generation PC-driven virtual reality simulations can be used to accurately mimic and therefore, observe behavior at a crosswalk. Toward that goal, the following research tasks were carried out: a) Designing a 3D virtual crosswalk and recruiting volunteers to wear the HTC Vive headset and to walk across the street, b) Setting up cameras near the midblock crosswalk on University Drive at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo to observe pedestrians, and c) Comparing pedestrian behavior data from both the virtual and real midblock crosswalk. The comparison was based on the following criteria: a) Pedestrian walking speed, b) Observation patterns prior to crossing the road, characterized by glancing left and right to detect cars, and c) Pedestrians’ decisions as to where to cross, defined by if they chose to walk directly on or outside of the midblock crosswalk. Walking speed and the number of pedestrians who looked left and right before crossing were significantly different in both the virtual and real environments. On the other hand, the proportion of people who chose to walk on the crosswalk was similar in both environments. This result indicates that there is a future potential in using virtual reality to analyze pedestrian behavior at roundabouts. Although this study showed that PC-driven virtual reality is not effective in replicating pedestrian walking speeds or pedestrian observation patterns at a midblock crosswalk, researchers may expect PC-driven virtual reality to have greater applications within the transportation discipline once the technology improves over the years. Potential improvements in technology that would help include being wireless, allowing users to walk in a non-confining space, and making the equipment more affordable, allowing the technology to become more mainstream

Breakaway: an exhibition to explore civic engagement and the cycling community

In this thesis, I investigated the ties between museums and communities. In my research, I moved beyond old museum methods of exclusivity instead exploring new directions for inclusive museum practice, specifically in the area of exhibition design processes. The design study I undertook in this thesis borrows on several early efforts of community-based exhibit making, but moves beyond them in one significant way: an integrated design process that includes community WITHIN the design. While community organizations and citizens have been involved in conceptualizing exhibits and discussions about content, my interest lies in how communities emerge through linking existing organizations, groups, and others interested in conversations about design and space. And while cycling represents the specific subject matter of the exhibition herein, I assert that the participatory process applies to any community-based project in a museum setting. Significantly, I learned that communities exist outside the physical realm and that individuals come together in unanticipated ways around any exhibit subject. This, perhaps, represents the single greatest finding of my work, all of which began with an idea about my interest to challenge what museums do and who they represent

Transforming our World through Universal Design for Human Development

An environment, or any building product or service in it, should ideally be designed to meet the needs of all those who wish to use it. Universal Design is the design and composition of environments, products, and services so that they can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people, regardless of their age, size, ability or disability. It creates products, services and environments that meet people’s needs. In short, Universal Design is good design. This book presents the proceedings of UD2022, the 6th International Conference on Universal Design, held from 7 - 9 September 2022 in Brescia, Italy.The conference is targeted at professionals and academics interested in the theme of universal design as related to the built environment and the wellbeing of users, but also covers mobility and urban environments, knowledge, and information transfer, bringing together research knowledge and best practice from all over the world. The book contains 72 papers from 13 countries, grouped into 8 sections and covering topics including the design of inclusive natural environments and urban spaces, communities, neighborhoods and cities; housing; healthcare; mobility and transport systems; and universally- designed learning environments, work places, cultural and recreational spaces. One section is devoted to universal design and cultural heritage, which had a particular focus at this edition of the conference. The book reflects the professional and disciplinary diversity represented in the UD movement, and will be of interest to all those whose work involves inclusive design

Human experience in the natural and built environment : implications for research policy and practice

22nd IAPS conference. Edited book of abstracts. 427 pp. University of Strathclyde, Sheffield and West of Scotland Publication. ISBN: 978-0-94-764988-3

Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on disability, virtual reality and associated technologies (ICDVRAT 2000)

The proceedings of the conferenc