Science Meets Göttingen
Impressions from the MPG’s 75th Anniversary Science Market
It was an exciting day at the Science Market in front of the Old Town Hall in Göttingen on Friday! Göttingen is the birthplace of the Max Planck Society, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary with events like this throughout the year. Despite a rainy and windy start, the Max Planck Day saw a visitor boom, including visits by Petra Broistedt, head mayor of Göttingen, and Patrick Cramer, the Max Planck Society’s new president. Our MAXLab booth was right beside one of the city’s landmarks, the Gänseliesel Fountain.
The MAXLab is a leading-edge research facility belonging to the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law. Our enthusiastic researchers – Patrick McClanahan, Peter Wozniak, and Daniela Burdach – explained how virtual reality (VR) can help advance criminal science. Petra Broistedt was keenly interested in hearing about the project “A Virtual Night Out”.
This project investigates the influence emotions have on our decisions. We wish to explore how different emotions – such as anger, fear, and excitement – affect our decisions to actively become violent, to commit a crime, or to remain bystanders. The researchers have developed a realistic barroom setting for this purpose, in which they use 360° virtual technology to “place” test participants in the bar. There, they are confronted with different, potentially risky scenarios – like being insulted by a stranger, witnessing a girl being harassed or even a bar fight – all of which have been designed to elicit different emotions. This immersive method allows the researchers to explore how such emotional factors trigger responses in the participants, e.g. willingness to engage in acts of criminal violence or willingness to intervene.
MPS President Patrick Cramer listened intently as the MAXLab researchers explained another ongoing VR project, the “Virtual Burglary Project”. For this research project, virtual environments of residential areas have been created in order to study burglar behavior. The special feature: The study is conducted in prisons – by convicted burglars. These “experts” explore the 3-D residential area as if they were about to commit a burglary. In the process, they encounter various deterring factors (lighting, noises, etc.). The aim of the study is to analyze how these types of situational factors influence burglars’ decisions to commit burglary in that area. Eye-tracking data and spatial patterns of participants are monitored to see whether burglars are aware of and sensitive to these deterrent factors. If we can better understand burglars’ decision-making processes and behavior, we can improve crime prevention in the future.
Our researchers enjoyed sharing their scientific projects with visitors of all ages at the science fair, especially once the weather cleared up in the afternoon. Some questions surprised them and there were also a few critical queries, but the lively interaction with the general public was well worth it.