Navigating Urban Futures: Crafting an Experimental Framework for Eye-Tracking Integrated Virtual Reality in Co-Creative Planning

Wheelchair users (WCUs) often face unnecessary risks and socio-economic exclusion due to inadequate urban infrastructure. In this context, adopting participatory design (PD) in urban infrastructure planning proffers socially inclusive urban development. However, such human-centric participatory approaches, involving WCUs, demand an acquaintance of the scenario to legitimately interfere and contribute to evaluating existing infrastructure and co-creation of urban landscapes. State-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) is a leading visualisation tool in the PD process that can immerse WCUs in critical road safety scenarios for physio-behavioural response analysis. Moreover, integrating cutting-edge eye-tracking (ET) technology can redeem VR’s constraints in behavioural tracing, enabling gaze-pattern evaluation during urban navigation and facilitating pragmatic solutions. Hence, this chapter presents an experimental framework incorporating ET and VR in the co-creation of urban infrastructural planning alongside WCUs. The framework addresses an existing research gap in adopting ET technology for urban infrastructure interventions, along with tackling a reluctance to implement such technological advancements among WCUs. As a result, this framework serves as a pivotal step towards creating a user-friendly urban environment.