Social Wayfinding in a Time of Pandemic: a VR Study

Abstract

To understand the effects of COVID-19 preventive measures such as social distancing and mask-wearing on social wayfinding, we carried out a virtual reality (VR) study. Participants traversed a VR room, moving around an obstacle – either a virtual person (an “agent”) or an inanimate object. We varied whether the participant was wearing a mask, whether the agent was wearing a mask, and whether the context was “safe” or “unsafe” in terms of potential contagion. Participants’ navigational choices, we found, were strongly influenced by whether the agent was wearing a mask, and by the safety of the environment, but not as much by whether the participant was wearing a mask. We also saw evidence of risk compensation: participants were more willing to closely approach an agent when the risk of contagion was lower. These results are important for the formation, evaluation and implementation of public health policies to contain contagious diseases.