Intend-Wait-Perceive-Cross: Exploring the Effects of Perceptual Limitations on Pedestrian Decision-Making

Current research on pedestrian behavior understanding focuses on the dynamics of pedestrians and often implicitly assumes that their perceptual abilities are omnidirectional. In practice, human visual system has a number of limitations, such as restricted field of view (FoV) and sensing range, which consequently affect decision-making and the overall behavior of the pedestrians. By explicitly modeling pedestrian perception, we can better understand its effect on their decision-making. To this end, we propose an agent-based pedestrian behavior model Intend-Wait-Perceive-Cross with three novel elements: field of vision, working memory, and scanning strategy, all motivated by findings from behavioral literature. Through extensive experimentation we investigate the effects of perceptual limitations on crossing decisions and demonstrate how they contribute to detectable changes in pedestrian behaviors, e.g. increased wait times and chance of making riskier decisions.