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Abstract
This presentation will explore the use of eye-tracking technology in Virtual Reality (VR) to investigate how children assess risk in two different scenarios: street crossing and river crossing. Through a VR simulation, 417 children aged 7 to 10 interacted with realistic environments where they handled traffic and river crossing tasks, including a task with steppingstones. By analyzing children’s fixation on cars, bicyclists, and stones in the river task, we aim to understand how children assess risks in, and how this relates to their decision-making and risk-taking behaviors. This study is part of the ViRMa project (Virtual Risk Management). The presentation will highlight challenges in interpreting and analyzing the eye-tracking data and share preliminary findings on how children gather relevant information through fixations before handling a risky task.
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About the speaker
Ole Johan Sando is an Associate Professor at the Department of Physical Education and Health at Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education (QMUC) in Trondheim, Norway. He is educated within Sport Science (NTNU) and his previous research has focused on how children's physical environments impact their physical activity, well-being, play, and risk-taking behaviors. He is currently working on the ViRMa project, which explores the effects of childhood risk experiences using innovative methods like VR and eye-tracking.