Simulated influence of user interaction with mobile devices amongst pedestrians

Mobile device usage has reached a level of pervasiveness previously unheard of. The "pocketability" of such devices enables pedestrians to use them whilst moving, causing attention to be divided between the device and locomotion. We attempt to expose the implications of divided attention via a pedestrian simulation that accounts for mobile device use. Of particular interest is the awareness of users in the pedestrian environment, as this may affect the traffic scenario. Our simulation shows that even a small number of users interacting with a mobile device can destabilise pedestrian flow. The proportion of attention loss correlates to the degree of disruption. This has implications for the design of pedestrian-focused applications, as our results suggest pervasive mobile use is changing the nature of pedestrian crowd behaviour. © 2012 ACM.