Body-rotation behavior of pedestrians for collision avoidance in passing and cross flow

This study investigated the body-rotation behavior adopted by pedestrians to avoid others while moving in congested areas. In such scenarios, body orientation often differs from walking direction, e.g., a pedestrian may step sideways. The deviation between body orientation and walking direction during collision avoidance was studied by quantitatively evaluating the body rotation for counter-flows in narrow corridors. Simple experiments, in which two pedestrians passed each other, were conducted. It was found that pedestrians rotated their bodies when the corridor width was smaller than the sum of the widths of the two pedestrians. This behavior was explained by analyzing the geometry of two ellipses circumscribing each other in a narrow corridor. A preliminary model was developed, and the deviation between the body orientation and walking direction during passing was successfully simulated. Finally, a cross-flow experiment, which is much more complex and realistic than the passing experiments, was performed; it was confirmed that body rotation behavior is also a critical factor in complex and realistic scenarios. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.