Use of virtual reality in the assessment of walkability and well-being - application of the ICEP (pedestrian ergonomic comfort index) on the microscale

• Grant number: 23/18461-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Architecture and Urbanism Technology
• Principal Investigator: Roberta Consentino Kronka Mülfarth
• Grantee: Alicya David Ferreira Alves
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This Scientific Initiation is part of the Teaching and Research Projects, respectively: (1)Construction of 360° Immersive Educational Environments and Scenarios through Immersive Virtual Reality (FAU, IAU and EEL) and (2)Environmental Comfort and Urban Experience of the pedestrian: Qualitative and quantitative aspects of Walkability and Ergonomics (CNPq - (309739/2022-5), both under the coordination of the supervisor of this project presented here. It is also part of the doctoral research of the student André Eiji Sato, (3)Ergonomic Assessment of the Urban Environment: walkability and pedestrians as guiding agents in the urban redesign of the Consolidated Urbanization Zone in the City of São Paulo (FAPESP 2023/15898-4). The research object of study is the assessment of walkability at the microscale. The research its main objective is to apply the ICEP - Pedestrian Ergonomic Comfort Index (ALBALA, 2022), on a micro scale, with the use of virtual reality. The index is made up of five categories related to: road safety, quality of the sidewalk and its infrastructure, public safety, attractiveness and diversity and, finally, mobility and accessibility. These categories are subdivided into seventeen indicators. Based on this study objective, we intend to verify, based on the categories and indicators existing in ICEP, which are the most representative and have the greatest impact, including qualitative and quantitative aspects, on pedestrian perception. Representative points of the axes will be evaluated in the areas of the Consolidated Urbanization Macrozone, in the city of São Paulo, based on the pedestrian circulation system that is part of the objectives and guidelines of the mobility system based on the review of the PDE - Strategic Master Plan as well as the relevant strategies of Art. 29. The Land Parcelment, Use and Occupation legislation - LPUOS (I - land subdivision, encompassing minimum and maximum dimensions of lots and blocks (construction densities, volume of buildings, lot block, use and activities, non-buildable areas, etc.). As part of the method, Virtual Reality will be used for analyzes with users.