Laboratory Experiment on Visual Attention of Pedestrians While Using Twitter and LINE with a Smartphone on a Treadmill

Effects of smartphone use for SNS’s while walking were investigated in a laboratory setting. Participants walked on a treadmill for 3 min and performed a visual detection task at the same time while using (under the Twitter and LINE conditions) or not using (under the control condition) an iPhone SE. In front of the treadmill, there was a screen on which a video taken in a crowded underpass was projected. The detection task was to respond to a target (red circle) displayed on the screen 6 times at random intervals in the 3-min trial. Results showed that the number of missed targets was significantly greater and the reaction times to the visual targets were significantly longer under the Twitter and LINE conditions than under the control condition. The results indicated visual inattention of pedestrians using smartphones for Twitter and LINE while walking.