Which way do people go? A route-choice study

A route is a path through gates: a start gate, optional checkpoints and an end gate. When several routes share the same start gate, they form one study. Every person who passes the start is recorded as exactly one of the routes, or as Unknown, Abandoned or Lost track.

The repository has a finished scene for the corridor clip. People pass an entrance gate in the middle of the room and leave by an exit on the left or on the right.

Step 1. Import the sample scene

1. Open the Scene Builder of the Corridor camera. If it does not exist yet, add it as in guide 02.
2. Click Import JSON at the bottom of the tool column and choose samples\scenes\corridor_route_choice.json.
3. The scene now has three gates, Entrance, Exit Left and Exit Right, a zone called Centre floor, and two routes.
4. Click Save in the top bar, or press Ctrl+S.

Step 2. Look at a route

1. In the inspector, under Routes, click Route A.
2. It reads: Starts when the object passes Entrance, and Completes when the object passes Exit Left.
3. Give up after (seconds) is 30. A person who passes the entrance but reaches no exit within 30 seconds is recorded as Abandoned.
4. Click Back to return to the scene overview. Route B is the same with Exit Right.

Step 3. Run it

1. Click New experiment, name it Corridor route choice, keep Person and click Create experiment.
2. Click Start. During the run, the bottom bar counts each route.
3. When the clip has finished, click Results.

Step 4. Read the routes

The Routes panel starts with the outcomes:

The table below it gives each route’s Count, Share of valid, Mean duration and Median duration. The sample shows Route A 2 times (66.7 %) and Route B once (33.3 %).

Under Behavioural measurements you find these values:

• Mean decision time. The time from the start gate to the next line or zone the person passes, usually the first checkpoint or exit. About 1 second in the sample.
• Route switches. People who passed a checkpoint of another route first.
• Same route as the previous observation. Whether people followed the person before them.

Three people are far too few for a conclusion. The sample only shows the method. A real study needs many more observations, and the page reminds you that correlations describe the recorded scene, not the reasons for a choice.

Build a route yourself

1. Draw the gates first: press G and click the two ends of each gate. Draw each gate across the whole path people take.
2. Press R for the Route tool.
3. Click the start gate, then any checkpoints in order, then the end gate.
4. Press Enter, or click Finish route.
5. Name the route in the inspector and set Give up after (seconds) to a bit more than the slowest normal walk from start to end. Routes that share a start gate all use the longest of their limits.
6. Click Save in the top bar, or press Ctrl+S.

A checkpoint is drawn with C, as a small area. Require every checkpoint is ticked for new routes, so people who skip a checkpoint are recorded as Unknown. Untick it to count them for the route anyway, with the missed checkpoints noted in the event.

Next

Guide 12 compares how much each part of the floor is used. Guide 13 records custom sequences, such as passing the entrance and then entering the centre.