Evaluación de propuestas de intersecciones de ciclovías mediante el uso de realidad virtual

Abstract

The increase in the coverage and quality of infrastructure for bicycle mobility has proved to be a fundamental part of the solution to mobility problems in a city. The intersections of bike lanes where bicycles and motorized vehicles converge are the points of greatest risk of collision, with cyclists being the most vulnerable. Even though in Cuenca, cycle paths have been implemented in recent years, their intersections are inadequate and present a high risk of collision. In this work, different alternatives are proposed for the design of intersections of bicycle lanes for different types of roads and each alternative is evaluated using virtual reality. The design alternatives are developed following two principles, the first is to design the intersection based on the parameters dictated by the Ecuadorian Standardization Service (INEN), and the second that follows international guidelines and recommendations. In addition to these two principles, alteration alternatives were made in color: red, green, green with weft and without color. A perception study was carried out with the participation of 50 volunteers who evaluated the different design alternatives of each intersection, specifically the shape and color. 360º images were prepared with the different design alternatives and were implemented in a virtual reality system so that the participants could carry out the evaluation in an immersive environment that allowed an experience closer to reality. The results were processed to propose the most suitable type of alternative from the perceptual point of view. The results on the evaluation of the form were unquestionably favorable towards alternatives that propose modification of the sidewalks, obtaining a 68% preference. The results of the color were less significant, being the colors red and green the best valued with little difference between them. This work contributes to improving infrastructure designs for bicycle mobility in cities and presents an innovative way based on virtual reality to include the perception of users in making decisions about the design of this infrastructure.