{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,22]],"date-time":"2026-01-22T02:16:10Z","timestamp":1769048170774,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768953600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"FCT","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2022.06271.PTDC"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022.06271.PTDC"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"FCT","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SFRH\/BD\/145747\/2019"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SFRH\/BD\/145747\/2019"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"FCT\/MCTES","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UID\/4029\/2025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UID\/4029\/2025"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Associate Laboratory Advanced Production and Intelligent Systems","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0112\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Applied Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>As autonomous vehicles (AVs) become part of urban environments, pedestrian safety and interactions with these vehicles are critical to creating sustainable, walkable cities. Intuitive pedestrian-vehicle communication is essential not only for reducing crash risk but also for supporting policies that promote active mobility and efficient traffic flow. This study investigates pedestrian crossing behavior in a fully immersive virtual reality environment, building on previous work by the authors conducted in a CAVE-type simulator. Participants crossed between a conventional vehicle and an AV when they perceived it was safe. The analysis examines how external human\u2013machine interfaces (eHMIs) influence crossing decisions, collisions, safety margins, and crossing initiation time (CIT) across different vehicle speeds and traffic gaps. Three hypotheses were tested regarding the effects of eHMIs on CIT, risk-taking behavior, and perceived safety. Results show that eHMIs significantly affect pedestrian decisions: participants delayed crossings when the eHMI indicated non-yielding behavior and initiated crossings earlier when yielding was signaled. Risk-taking behavior increased at higher vehicle speeds and shorter time gaps. Although perceived safety did not increase, behavioral results indicate reliance on visual cues. These findings underscore the importance of standardizing eHMIs to support pedestrian safety and sustainable urban mobility.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/app16021080","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T11:11:17Z","timestamp":1768993877000},"page":"1080","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Designing Safer Pedestrian Interactions with Autonomous Vehicles: A Virtual Reality Study of External Human-Machine Interfaces in Road-Crossing Scenarios"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0202-1991","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raul","family":"Almeida","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), Advanced Production & Intelligent Systems (ARISE), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2411-9164","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Frederico","family":"Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Computer Graphics, Campus de Azur\u00e9m, 4800-058 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"given":"D\u00e1rio","family":"Machado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Computer Graphics, Campus de Azur\u00e9m, 4800-058 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5128-5753","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emanuel","family":"Sousa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Computer Graphics, Campus de Azur\u00e9m, 4800-058 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8014-9902","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susana","family":"Faria","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mathematics, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5132-7407","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elisabete","family":"Freitas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), Advanced Production & Intelligent Systems (ARISE), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"186","article-title":"Human-Vehicle Interfaces: The Power of Vehicle Movement Gestures in Human Road User Coordination","volume":"Volume 9","author":"Risto","year":"2017","journal-title":"Proceedings of the Driving Assessment Conference"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rothenbucher, D., Li, J., Sirkin, D., Mok, B., and Ju, W. 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