Academic literature on the topic 'Pedestrian Dyad'

We analysed a set of uninstructed pedestrian trajectories automatically tracked in a public area, and we asked a human coder to assess their group relationships. For those pedestrians who belong to the groups, we asked the coder to identify their apparent purpose of visit to the tracking area and apparent gender. We studied the quantitative dependence of the group dynamics on such properties in the case of triads (three people groups) and compared them to the two pedestrian group case (dyads), studied in a previous work. We found that the group velocity strongly depends on relation and gender for both triads and dyads, while the influence of these properties on spatial structure of groups is less clear in the triadic case. We discussed the relevance of these results to the modelling of pedestrian and crowd dynamics, and examined the possibility of the future works on this subject.

The development of pedestrian simulation systems requires the acquisition of empirical evidences about human behaviour for sake of model validation. In this framework, the paper presents the results of an on field observation of pedestrian behaviour in an urban crowded walkway. The research was aimed at testing the potentially combined effect of ageing and grouping on speed and proxemic behaviour. In particular, we focused on dyads, as the most frequent type of groups in the observed scenario. Results showed that in situation of irregular flows elderly pedestrians walked the 40% slower than adults, due to locomotion skill decline. Dyads walked the 30% slower than singles, due to the need to maintain spatial cohesion to communicate (proxemics). Results contributed to refine the parametric validation of the agent-based simulation system ELIAS38.

This study focuses on social pedestrian groups in public spaces and makes an effort to identify the social relation between the group members. We particularly consider dyads having coalitional or mating relation. We derive several observables from individual and group trajectories, which are suggested to be distinctive for these two sorts of relations and propose a recognition algorithm taking these observables as features and yielding an estimation of social relation in a probabilistic manner at every sampling step. On the average, we detect coalitional relation with 87% and mating relation with 81% accuracy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to infer social relation from joint (loco)motion patterns and we consider the detection rates to be a satisfactory considering the inherent challenge of the problem.

Abstract Background The IPEN International Physical Activity and Environment Network Adolescent project was conducted using common study protocols to document the strength, shape, and generalizability of associations of perceived neighborhood environment attributes with adolescents’ physical activity and overweight/obesity using data from 15 countries. Countries did not use identical versions of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale for Youth (NEWS-Y) to measure perceived neighborhood environment attributes. Therefore, this study derived a measurement model for NEWS-Y items common to all IPEN Adolescent countries and developed a scoring protocol for the IPEN Adolescent version of the NEWS-Y (NEWS-Y-IPEN) that maximizes between-country comparability of responses. Additionally, this study examined between- and within-country variability, and construct validity of the NEWS-Y-IPEN subscales in relation to neighborhood-level socio-economic status and walkability. Methods Adolescents and one of their parents (N = 5714 dyads) were recruited from neighborhoods varying in walkability and socio-economic status. To measure perceived neighborhood environment, 14 countries administered the NEWS-Y to parents and one country to adolescents. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to derive comparable country-specific measurement models of the NEWS-Y-IPEN. Country-specific standard deviations quantified within-country variability in the NEWS-Y-IPEN subscales, while linear mixed models determined the percentage of subscale variance due to between-country differences. To examine the construct validity of NEWS-Y-IPEN subscales, we estimated their associations with the categorical measures of area-level walkability and socio-economic status. Results Final country-specific measurement models of the factor-analyzable NEWS-Y-IPEN items provided acceptable levels of fit to the data and shared the same factorial structure with five latent factors (Accessibility and walking facilities; Traffic safety; Pedestrian infrastructure and safety; Safety from crime; and Aesthetics). All subscales showed sufficient levels of within-country variability. Residential density had the highest level of between-country variability. Associations between NEWS-Y-IPEN subscales and area-level walkability and socio-economic status provided strong evidence of construct validity. Conclusions A robust measurement model and common scoring protocol of NEWS-Y for the IPEN Adolescent project (NEWS-Y-IPEN) were derived. The NEWS-Y-IPEN possesses good factorial and construct validity, and is able to capture between-country variability in perceived neighborhood environments. Future studies employing NEWS-Y-IPEN should use the proposed scoring protocol to facilitate cross-study comparisons and interpretation of findings.

The present thesis has, as one of its main goals, the objective to introduce the phenomenon of Ageing Society, particularly focusing on the theme of elderly population mobility in urban environment. The originality of this thesis comes from the study of elderly dyads walking dynamics in urban settings and senior citizens' perception about the neighbourhood they live in, in terms of safety and walkable conditions. The final purpose is to demonstrate, through the analysis of institutional and scientific literature, with the help of qualitative and quantitative data collection tools, how the quality of life in older years is related to the maintenance of physical and social activities outdoor, and to infrastructure and services supporting walking mobility. After the introduction to the theme Ageing Society (Chapter 1), the first part of the thesis (Chapters 2-3-4) discusses the importance of the concept of Independent Living as a new lifestyle for senior persons, and investigates the meaning of Walkability, the measure of walking condition, and of living conditions in general, in a definite area. These concepts can be associated to the word Age-Friendly City, which not only refers to a city attentive to citizen's needs but to every age, a city that is inclusive and aware of the wellbeing of its inhabitants. Moreover, we cannot ignore the important role that technology plays in elderly assistance and to the improvement of the quality of life. In particular, nowadays technology can make domestic living more comfortable, avoiding institutionalisation. Data collected through the administration of a long questionnaire "The perception of longevity", aiming at investigating the perception of the population regarding themes such as seniority and assistive technology, are presented in this section. Data indicates that older persons are perceived as autonomous in their daily activities and full of resources, confirming the necessity to promote an active and independent lifestyle through an increased social participation and the preservation of interpersonal relationships, also with the use of new technological solutions. The second part of the dissertation introduces the definition of "dyad of pedestrian" and an overview of the literature having as objectives pedestrian characteristics in dynamic contexts, in particular: interpersonal distance during locomotion, patterns of small groups in a crowd, elderly pedestrians exposed to environmental complexity (Chapters 5-6). The third part of the thesis (Chapters 7-8) presents two study cases: in vivo observation in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan for data collection and analysis concerning pedestrian dynamics, and the administration of short questionnaires in Via Padova in Milan, with the aim of acquiring the experience of elderly people living in the neighbourhood and the conditions of walkability and safety. The results highlight important insights related to the walking behaviour of older people in terms of speed, direction, trajectory, cohesion and about dyads of pedestrians in a complex environment such as a non-signalised street crossing. Conclusion, future works and bibliography constitute the closing part of the thesis (Chapters 9-10).