Testing perception of crime in a virtual environment

Fear of crime is a central topic in the field of victimization. In particular, criminologists are interested in the environmental structures and cues that generate fear. Research has shown that fear of crime has a direct impact on pedestrian navigation through the urban setting. Most studies have used traditional methods such as surveys or interviews. Researchers have debated the methodological issues stemming from these methods. This article introduces two explorative studies which use a virtual environment (VE) as a research tool for the study of fear of crime. The benefits associated to using VEs in this field of research are discussed. The development, implementation and results of these two studies are presented. The limitations and future directions of VE experiments are discussed.