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Virtual Reality (VR) is a valuable tool for studying pedestrian behaviour in complex and realistic scenarios. However, it has remained unknown how different VR technology would influence pedestrian behaviour. This paper presents VR experiments that were conducted with 70 participants using a desktop VR or a HMD VR to perform four different wayfinding tasks in a multi-story building. Quantitative analysis of pedestrian behaviour data and user experience data were performed in order to investigate the impact of the technological differences between the two VR techniques. It was found that participants had better wayfinding task performance in the desktop group. However, the route and exit choice and user experience were overall similar between the two groups. The findings suggest that one could adopt more ‘simple’ VR technologies for studies featuring ‘simple’ wayfinding tasks.

Virtual Reality (VR) provides the possibility to study pedestrian wayfinding behaviour in multi-level buildings. Although VR has been applied increasingly to study pedestrian behaviour, it has remained unclear how different VR technology would affect behavioural outcomes in a multi-level building. The study compares the adoption of different VR technologies for pedestrian wayfinding studies, via investigating the difference in pedestrian wayfinding behaviour and user experience. Wayfinding experiments with two groups of participants were conducted using either HMD VR or Desktop VR. Pedestrian movement trajectory data were collected via the VR system and user experience data were recorded via a questionnaire. These data allow for direct comparison and detailed analysis of pedestrian behaviour and user experience between the adoption of two VR technologies. The results showed that technological differences have a significant impact on wayfinding task performance and head rotation change. However, the route choice, exit choice and user experience were overall similar between the two groups. These results provide empirical evidence supporting researchers to choose between immersive and non-immersive VR when study pedestrian wayfinding behaviour.