Using Eye-Tracking Technology to Measure Environmental Factors Affecting Street Robbery Decision-Making in Virtual Environments

There is a lack of quantitative data regarding how offenders make decisions about committing a crime or how situational factors influence such decisions. Detailed crime data on decision-making among criminals are required to improve the accuracy of research. Demonstrating a new methodology for assessing the factors impacting criminal decision-making among street robbery offenders, this study identifies visual data that influence criminal decision-making, and verifies the significance of the measured data. To this end, this study first identified and organized the physical aspects affecting criminal decision-making based on the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) literature. Next, participants were informed of a street crime scenario and asked to replicate the behaviors of criminals in the virtual environment of Grand Theft Auto 5. Factors affecting criminals’ decision-making were then quantitatively assessed using eye-tracking technology. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to verify the significance of the measured data. Results show that windows placed adjacent to the street, balconies and verandas, and signs indicating territoriality have a significant effect on criminals’ decision-making. Confirming the influence of CPTED factors on the occurrence of street robbery, this study advances a new way of acquiring quantitative data through eye-tracker technology, a method hitherto unexplored by existing research on street robbery.