Crowding density in urban environment and its effects on emotional responding of pedestrians: Using wearable device technology with sensors capturing proximity and psychophysiological emotion responses while walking in the street

We conducted a study to examine the influence of crowding in high-density urban areas on the emotional responses of people. We hypothesized that high density leads to the invasion of a personal space that is surrounding everyone’s body which in turn evokes emotional responses, especially negative emotions like stress and aggression. Subjects (n = 30) walked a predefined, crowded path in a Hong Kong commercial center which consisted of urban...