Guo Yuntao, Peeta Srinivas, Agrawal Shubham, Benedyk Irina
Department of Traffic Engineering and Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, 4800 Cao'an Road, Shanghai, 201804 China.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Hawaii At Manoa, 2500 Campus Road, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA.
Transportation (Amst). 2022;49(2):395-444. doi: 10.1007/s11116-021-10181-9. Epub 2021 Feb 24.
This study aims to understand the impacts of Pokémon GO, a popular location-based augmented reality (AR) mobile gaming app, on route and mode choices. Pokémon GO leverages AR to introduce virtual objects at fixed and dynamic locations that translate through the app interface to incentives in the real world that potentially influence users' route and mode choices. Its gaming nature and social components can possibly enhance long-term user engagement through applying the characteristics of game elements and providing opportunities for competition, collaboration, companionship, and social reinforcement. An online survey is conducted to collect the self-reported behavior of a group of Pokémon GO users to explore its impacts on the following aspects of travel behavior: (1) the frequency of changing the route to interact with virtual objects; (2) the likelihood of carpooling more instead of driving alone for more in-app collaboration; and (3) the likelihood of shifting mode from drive alone to public transit, walking, and cycling if provided with additional incentives. The ordered survey responses including frequency and likelihood are analyzed using random parameters ordered probit models to account for the unobserved heterogeneity across users and identify subpopulations of travelers who are more susceptible to the influence of Pokémon GO. The modeling results identify four types of variables (attitude and perceptions related to Pokémon GO, app engagement, play style, and sociodemographic characteristics) that affect users' travel behavior. The results illustrate that such apps with integrated AR, gamification, and social components can be used by policymakers to influence various aspects of travel behavior. The study findings and insights can provide valuable feedback to system operators for designing such apps to dynamically manage traffic in real-time and promote long-term sustainable mode shifts.
本研究旨在了解一款广受欢迎的基于位置的增强现实（AR）手机游戏应用《宝可梦大探险》对出行路线和出行方式选择的影响。《宝可梦大探险》利用增强现实技术在固定和动态位置引入虚拟物体，这些虚拟物体通过应用程序界面转化为现实世界中的激励因素，可能会影响用户的出行路线和出行方式选择。其游戏性质和社交元素可能通过运用游戏元素的特点并提供竞争、协作、陪伴和社交强化的机会，来增强用户的长期参与度。我们开展了一项在线调查，收集了一组《宝可梦大探险》用户的自我报告行为，以探究该游戏对出行行为以下几个方面的影响：（1）为与虚拟物体互动而改变路线的频率；（2）为了更多的应用内协作而选择拼车而非独自驾车的可能性；（3）如果有额外激励措施，从独自驾车转变为选择公共交通、步行和骑自行车出行方式的可能性。我们使用随机参数有序概率模型对包括频率和可能性在内的有序调查回复进行分析，以考虑用户之间未观察到的异质性，并识别出更容易受到《宝可梦大探险》影响的旅行者亚群体。建模结果确定了影响用户出行行为的四类变量（与《宝可梦大探险》相关的态度和认知、应用程序参与度、游戏风格以及社会人口统计学特征）。结果表明，政策制定者可以利用这类集成了增强现实、游戏化和社交元素的应用程序来影响出行行为的各个方面。研究结果和见解可为系统运营商提供有价值的反馈，以便设计此类应用程序来实时动态管理交通，并促进长期可持续的出行方式转变。
