Abstract: Navigational aids integrated with personal listening devices (PLDs) could promote safe crossing behavior of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) at unsignalized campus crosswalks, especially where unnoticeable electric vehicles are present. This study aims to determine the most effective combination of PLDs, alerting signals, and signaling methods to provide insights into designing navigational aids that could be integrated into PLDs within a connected community. In the present study, a crosswalk in virtual reality (VR) is used to simulate unsignalized crosswalk scenarios considering visual and non-visual conditions, where participants are prompted to cross based on auditory feedback received through PLDs. It is hypothesized that alert signals from PLDs, in the presence or absence of visual aids, could promote VRU safety at unsignalized campus crosswalks. Data collection is ongoing and pending results. In sum, this study provides valuable insights for improving unsignalized VRU safety while wearing PLDs in the presence of traditional and electric vehicles on college campuses.

Esha Mahendran is a Ph.D. candidate specializing in Human Factors Engineering within the Grado Department of Industrial & System Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. She is currently a graduate research assistant within the Human IMPaC-T Lab under the advisement of Rafael N.C. Patrick, Ph.D. Her work focuses on integrating navigational aids with personal listening devices to enhance the safety of vulnerable road users at unsignalized crosswalks using virtual reality. She is expected to graduate in 2026 with a concentration in product design.