Effects of smartphone texting on the visual perception and dynamic walking stability

Abstract

Mobile phone use while walking can cause dual-task interference and increases safety risks by increasing attentional and cognitive demands. While the interference effect on cognitive function has been examined extensively, how perception of the environment and walking dynamics are affected by mobile phone use while walking is not well understood. The amount of visual information loss and its consequent impact on dynamic walking stability was examined in this study. Young adults (mean, 20.3 years) volunteered and walked on a treadmill while texting and attending to visual tasks simultaneously. Performance of visual task, field of regard loss, and margin of stability under dual-task conditions were compared with those of single-task conditions (i.e., visual task only). The results revealed that the size of visual field and visual acuity demand were varied across the visual task conditions. Approximately half of the visual cues provided during texting while walking were not perceived as compared to the visual task only condition. The field of regard loss also increased with increased dual-task cost of mobile phone use. Dynamic walking stability, however, showed no significant differences between the conditions. Taken together, the results demonstrate that the loss of situational awareness is unavoidable and occurs simultaneously with decrements in concurrent task performance. The study indicates the importance of considering the nature of attentional resources for the studies in dual-task paradigm and may provide practical information to improve the safe use of mobile phones while walking.

New Immersive Media to Broaden Attention and Awareness

“…Many contemporary media devices, such as smart phones, grab the focus of attention to the foveal area of vision, at the exclusion of the wider peripheral field that is critical to natural visual perception (Lutz, Ranzini & Meckel 2014). The narrow focus of attention demanded by these devices may be harmful to cognitive functioning, emotion regulation and visual perception (Lim et al 2017, Wilmer, Sherman & Chein 2017. These technologies are arguably diminishing our natural capacity for rich visual experience.…”

The effects of walking speed and mobile phone use on the walking dynamics of young adults

“…Previous studies have established the effect of mobile phone use while walking, on the spatiotemporal parameters of walking 3 , 7 – 15 . However, to date just a few studies have investigated walking dynamics under this dual task condition 16 – 19 . These studies provide relevant and valuable information, but their approach to measuring the dynamics of walking are limited by two methodological aspects.…”

Factors Influencing the Smartphone Usage Behavior of Pedestrians: Observational Study on “Spanish Smombies”

“…However, there is no doubt that this behavior represents a safety risk. It seems that this phenomenon is increasingly being studied in different countries and contexts [ 15 , 16 ] and evidences on the effects and consequences of this pattern of behavior are increasing [ 17 , 18 ], because of which this study was carried out. The goal of this study was to gather the information that helps us measure and understand the smombie behavior and to identify specific groups that may require special attention to reduce the risk of accidents.…”