Virtual street crossing and scanning behavior in people with hemianopia: A step toward successful crossings

Abstract

In summary, in a virtual reality environment, both individuals with real and simulated HH used compensatory crossing strategies to align their crossing behavior to their visuomotor capabilities. Although the visual field defect appeared to reduce their walking pace, they adopted varying compensatory crossing behavior strategies, resulting in similar crossing outcomes to those of individuals with unimpaired vision. HH did not alter scanning behavior before crossing a virtual street. Future research should establish whether this absence of compensatory scanning behavior is specific to street crossing or is specific to the use of a virtual environment. Additionally, virtual crossing paradigms should be enhanced by improving virtual car speed perception, depth perception, extending the field of view, and increasing variability and unpredictability. Despite its current shortcomings, the virtual paradigm still holds promise for street crossing research, offering a safe, standardized and controllable environment to study behavior. Consequently, our insights may serve as a stepping stone toward translational use of VR to identify compensatory crossing and scanning strategies for successful street crossing in individuals with HH.