In new research that has implications for how we design our public spaces, people have been found to have negative reactions to seeing cars in the street, but welcome car-free areas.
A research team from Tufts University in Boston used machine learning and biometrics technology to find that people unconsciously experience negative emotions when looking at cars in a street but positive emotions when the cars are replaced by people.
The team used cameras to collect imagery from a street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is sometimes closed to cars.
Then, using real-time facial analysis and eye-movement data as people viewed the video, the technology discerned subconscious information communicated by people’s faces when they engaged with different urban scenes: Did they smile? What did they look at first? How long were they engaged with what they saw?
"We captured similar images of the same stretch of road with and without cars and compared our participants’ emotional reactions to both types of images, the group writes in Scientific American.
"People in the study spent more time showing positive emotions when they looked at images without a vehicle in the foreground compared to images with cars."
The technology is being used more broadly to investigate how people react to streets and buildings.
When shown traditional neighbourhoods with narrow streets and buildings with complex facades, as well as more modern streets, the participants paid more attention to the traditional design.
"Natural elements like trees and shrubs are less foreign to our brain than car-related infrastructure like roadways and curbs," the Tufts team said.
"Furthermore, natural design elements make it easier for humans to relax and enjoy their surroundings. Car-free spaces are important in community building."