Table 2 Overview of study characteristics

[45]

48 students, 60% women

R

WS

1

1. Instructions

2. Exposure to 8 scenarios and in-between surveys

W

–

Environmental perception

N

Spatial enclosure perception using the concepts of visual and locomotive permeability

(low, medium, and high enclosed)

–

1. Perceived park safety relies on vegetation-based spatial enclosure levels and the presence of non-threatening people and paths (social and environmental cues)

2. Safety perception decreases with increased spatial enclosure: low is safest, medium is next, and high is least safe

0.67

[49]

16 students and staff, 25% women, M-age = 24.9

NA

WS

2

1. Two training trials

2. Four trials in each condition: real vs. virtual environment

W

–

–

S

Crowd density similar to real environment

–

1. Smaller gaze coverage in VE

2. Accuracy of reproducing features in the VE impacted participants' gaze behavior

3. Gaze fixations centered in the field of view, emphasizing participants' focus on the central task in both RE and VE

0.67

18 student and staff, 22% women, M-age = 25.5

R

WS

1

1. Familiarization

2. Four trials for each condition

–

–

Crowd density in 6 conditions: from low (2 people) to high (24 people)

–

1. More focused participants' gaze in high-density conditions

2. Density affects eye movements not gaze duration

[21]

86 student and staff, 31.4% women, IVR: m-age = 28.2

R

BS

1

1. Introductory phase

2. Four random cycling segments out of 8 scenarios,

3. Within VE survey and after exposure survey

C

–

Environmental perception (stated preference)

B

1. Greenness

2. Path width and path separation

3. Traffic volume

ITC-Sense of Presence Inventory questionnaire

1. Greenness: The most important attribute for aesthetics and enjoyment, with the greatest impact on overall attractiveness

2. Cycle Lane Width: Key for safety perception and the second most significant attribute

3. Traffic Volume: Has the lowest impacts

0.88

[4]

4 colleagues, 75% women, 30–45

NR

WS

2

1. IVE exposure

2. First survey

3. IVE exposure

4. Second survey

W

1.Walking durations

2.Walking distance

3.Speed

4.Number of steps

5.Cadence (steps/min)

6.Step regularity

7.Step symmetry, 8.EDA^f, 9.HR^g

Affective responses (enjoyment)

B

1. Greenness

2. Parked car

NA

1. Green environment positively influenced enjoyment

2. Participants showed varying attention to details, with most focusing on a yellow car

0.67

[55]

48 students, university employees, and general public members, M-age = 26.5

NA

WS

1

1. Familiarization and trial session

2.Exposure to 6 IVE

C

1. Cycling speed

2. Acceleration

3. α wave amplitude using EEG^h

–

B

1. Presence of a car at the junction

2. Constant: Cycling on painted lane, separated from pedestrian zone, and segregated from the road traffic by a grass strip

Sounds according to environment's characteristics

1. Approaching junctions with the presence of cars increases cyclists' likelihood to slow down and brake, leading to a perceived increase in risk

2. Higher risk induces more braking

0.63

[50]

26, 46% Women, M-age = 26+_ 8 years

R

WS

1

1. Three experimental conditions:

nature walk, sitting-IVE, and treadmill-IVE

2. in-between condition questionnaires

W

1.Walking speed

2.HR

3.PAAS (physical activity affect scale)

1. Affective responses (enjoyment and affect)

3.Environmental perceptions (perceived environmental restorativeness, using Ratings of perceived exertions)

N

Blue environment (paved trail along a large river)

Built elements (buildings & football field)

Sound: footsteps and people's voices

1. IVEs had comparable restorative and physically engaging qualities but elicited more negative emotions than real nature walks

2. Real nature walks positively impacted participants' emotions by reducing fatigue and negative feelings, leading to enjoyment

3. Significantly less enjoyment reported in the treadmill condition than in outdoor walking

4. No significant differences in HR and walking speed observed between outdoor walking and treadmill walking

0.67

[54]

Pilot: 12 students, 50% women

R

WS

2

1.VR exposure

2. Post-test survey

W

–

Environmental perception (complexity, enclosure, and interest)

N vs B

Nature connectedness

Igroup presence questionnaire (IPQ)

No differences in spatial presence, involvement, realism, 'being there' sensation, perceived complexity, enclosure, and interest between nature and urban environments

0.83

30 students, 70% women, M-age: 20.5

R

2

1. Pre-test survey

2.VR task

3.Post-test survey

Electrical activity of the heart using ECGⁱ

Affective responses (Positive and negative affect (using PANAS))

Full auditory and visual immersion

1- Nature VE: improved emotional state, reduced stress, increased relaxation, and enhanced sense of nature connectedness

2. Urban VE: positive effects decreased significantly, and increased stress

[51]

36 students, 50% women, 18–37 (M-age = 22.3)

R

Mixed

1

1. Familiarization

2. Exposure to 4 conditions

3. Interview, and measuring length of participants arms

W

Distance from nearby virtual stimuli

Environmental perception (Peripersonal and interpersonal space)

S

Presence of others (social environment): Human, anthropomorphic robot, and a cylinder) in 4 condition: 1. Passive-comfort distance, 2. Active-comfort distance, 3.Passive-reachability, 4. Active-reachability

–

Reachability and comfort distance influenced by gender (larger in females), approach condition (larger in passive), and type of virtual stimuli (larger from cylinder, smaller from virtual females)

0.75

[53]

51: 60% students, 40% heterogeneous professions and age group, 65% women, 15–77,

M-age = 31.94

R

Mixed

1

1. Baseline condition: Lake sceneries in the woods, accompanied by sounds

2. Four Conditions followed by a questionnaire

3. Baseline condition

W

HR and EDA

Affective responses (PANAS)

N

1. Soundscape in 4 conditions: silence, a nature soundscape, and music of positive or negative valence

2. Time of day (daytime vs. nighttime)

Presence questionnaire (IPQ)

1. Sound conditions strongly influenced positive feelings; silence was different

2. Music generated higher emotional reactions than the soundscape

3. Sound reproduction per se leads to higher Presence ratings

0.75

[25]

80 students, 28% women, 19–37 (M-age = 22.51)

NA

BS

1

1.Demographics 2.Short walk trial 3.Ten virtual crossing tasks

4.Experiment feedback

W

1. Walking speed 2.Walking distance 3.Time, 4.Distance from nearby pedestrians 5.Direction 6.Smoothness

Affective responses (narrative feedback on their movement behavior)

S

Virtual crowd (medium density)

Sounds of cities

Different crossing behavior with simulated crowd: Participants moved slower, followed longer paths, performed less-smooth motions, and allowed more distance between themselves and nearby pedestrians

0.67

[26]

80 university setting, 28% women, M-age = 22.51

NR

BS

1

1. Instructions

2. Exposure to 8 conditions in 3 pairs of conditions

3. Experiment feedback

W

1. Walking speed

2. deviation

3. Walking distance

–

S

Virtual crowd:

1. Density

2. Walking Speed

3. Direction

Sounds of cities

Significant impact on participant's movement behavior within virtual crowd:

High density was associated with low speed, diagonal direction situations, and longer trajectory length

Low density was associated with ↑ speed, straight-direction crowd scenarios, shorter trajectory length

0.65

[27]

42students, 21% women, 19–27 (M-age = 21.55)

R

WS

1

1. Demographics

2. Familiarization

3. Crossing task followed by questionnaire for 6 conditions

4. Voluntary feedback

W

1. Walking speed, 2. distance, 3.duration, 4.smoothness, 5.deviation, 6.direction

Affective responses (emotional reactivity to the tactile feedback, and associated with crowd interaction)

Environmental perception (participants’ sensation of colliding with the virtual bodies)

S

Navigating through a highly dense virtual crowd walking toward the opposite side of the street in 6 conditions: 1. No TF^j (Baseline), 2. Side TF, 3.Back TF, 4. Front TF, 5. Accurate TF, 6.Random TF

Sounds of cities

Significant: speed of the participants (greatest impact: front TF), length and deviation measurements (side and random TF), duration (front and back TF)

Not significant: smoothness and direction measurement

0.79

[40]

E1^k:36 students, 80% women, M-age = 21.53

R

WS

1

1.Sociodemographics

2. Route learning

3. 4 trials (2uphills 2 downhills) in each: route learning, questionnaire, interfering task, landmark recognition test, route decision test, landmark position retrieval test, and pause

4. Users' estimation of travel time and distance followed by questionnaires

W

–

Environmental perception (spatial span test, users' estimation of distance and travel time)

B

1. Various degrees of inclination (M-slope:4.7%/20 m) (uphill or downhill)

3. 32 different landmarks of various sizes, colors, and functions

Presence questionnaire (Witmer et al. 2005)

1. Walking uphill routes led to distance underestimation compared to downhill routes

2. Significant findings: Slope direction significantly predicted performance in route decision, distance accuracy, inter-landmark angular accuracy, landmark positions, and route perspective preference

3. Not significant: Slope direction did not predict implicit walking speed estimations for distance and time

0.92

E2: 45 students, 75% women, M-age = 20.57

R

WS

1

B

Same but participants wore loaded ankle weights

The distance underestimation effect in uphill routes (E1) disappeared

[24]

150 students and people from Land Transport Authority of Singapore, 52% women, M-age = 27.0

R

Mixed

1

1. Questionnaire

2. Cycling 5 different environments followed by questionnaires

C

–

Environmental perception (safety)

Affective response (willingness to bicycle)

B

Car traffic volume: low vs. high

Bicycling environment: 1. Sidewalk next to pedestrians, 2. Painted bicycle path on the sidewalk, 3. Painted bicycle path on the road, 4. Roadside next to vehicles, 5. Segregated bicycle path

–

1. Ranking safety and willingness to bicycle: Segregated bicycle path ranked highest, followed by painted path on the road, painted path on the sidewalk, roadside bicycling, and bicycling on the sidewalk. Segregated paths were deemed the safest

2. All participants would consider bicycling for trips under 10 min, regardless of infrastructure or traffic volume

3. Traffic volume did not impact bicyclists' perceived level of safety

0.96

[52]

126, M-age: C^l1:M = 25.6, C2:M = 25.7, C3:M = 25, C4:M = 22.8 C5:M = 22.9 C6:M = 28

R

BS

1

1. Six different experimental conditions, including uni- and bimodal stimuli (auditory and visual)

2.Questionnaire

W

–

–

N

Soundscape in 6 conditions: 1) Visual only, 2) Visual with footstep sounds, 3) Visual with full sound (static and 3D sound), 4) Visual with fully sequenced sound, 5) Visual with sound + 3D sound, and 6) Visual with music

Sound of nature, presence questionnaire

1. Combination of soundscapes, 3D sound, and auditory rendering of one’s own motion in VE induces a higher degree of motion

2. Condition 6 (music) induces the least movement, even less than the Visual-only condition

0.42

[48]

18, 44% women, 20–45 (M-age = 30.06)

R

WS

1

1. Demographics

2. Baseline: Real-world tasks followed by a virtual replica

3. 8 VE (4 indoor and 4 outdoor) followed by a questionnaire and an interview

4. Task repetition, starting with a virtual replica followed by the real world

W

Deviation

Deviation. Area

Curvature

Length

Time

Speed

Environmental perception questions

N

1. Greenness (Grassy area with trees and rocks)

2. Specified walking path

3. Blue environment (shallow pond, ice)

Sounds according to environment's characteristics

1. Alteration in participants' trajectories in the presence of surfaces representing higher walking difficulty (water instead of grass)

2. No significant trajectory changes when virtual objects appeared strange but not confusing

3. User behavior is influenced by real-life experiences and expectations of how the virtual world responds to their actions

0.83

[47]

106 students, 53% women

R

Mixed

1

1. Familiarization

2. 1 practice trial + 20 test trials

3. Demographics

W

Road crossing duration

Gaps number and size

–

B

AHS^m treatment conditions varied in color (white or red) and timing of an icon projected on the roadway as an AHS vehicle approached

Traffic sound

1. Pedestrians exhibit similar road-crossing behavior during day and night, potentially contributing to high nighttime fatalities

2. Interaction with AHS-equipped vehicles may encourage safer crossing behavior

3. Pedestrians were willing to cross roads with tight gaps at night

4. Warnings can appear 4 to 4.5 s before the vehicle reaches the crossing line

0.81

[46]

E1:10

R

WS

1.Series of practice and test trials

2. E1: 96 trials(8 conditions)

W

Walking direction

Walking speed

–

S

Virtual crowd: 24 humans, random directions ± 10° or ± 20° left or right

Frame rate of 30–60 fps

Participants are attracted to the crowd’s mean heading, regardless of the amount of crowd noise

0.69

E2: 12

R

WS

E2: 96trials (12 conditions)

Splitting virtual crowd of 36 into 2 groups with distinct heading directions and varying proportion

Frame rate of 30–60 fps

Participants walked in the mean heading direction of the crowd in all conditions, despite the largest angular difference between groups

E3:12

R

WS

E3:120 trials (15 conditions)

Virtual crowd: 48 individuals with random directions (180° range), followed by a subgroup of neighbors changing direction by ± 20° after a few seconds

Frame rate of 45–90 fps

1. The mean final heading gradually shifted with crowd mean as subgroup percentage increased from 0 to 100%:

2. Subgroup attraction is based on mean walking deviation impact, not coherence