Gaze in the city: Exploring the effect of terrain type on visuospatial attention and gait dynamics during urban locomotion

The structure of the environment fundamentally shapes how humans see and move. Walking through the city requires the continuous coordination of eye, head, and body movements, revealing the active role of perception in guiding locomotion. Here, we used wearable eye-tracking, foot-mounted inertial sensors, and GPS to examine how terrain type modulates visuospatial attention and locomotor dynamics during naturalistic urban walking. Twenty young adults walked along routes comprising flat pavements, cobblestones, and dirt paths while their gaze, head orientation, and gait were recorded. Gaze behaviour varied systematically with surface irregularity: cobblestones and dirt paths elicited more frequent downward, proximal gaze and larger downward head-pitch deviations. Gait also adapted, with slower pace, shorter strides, and reduced cadence on uneven surfaces. Spatial correlations revealed tightly coupled adjustments between gaze and gait, indicating continuous sensorimotor coordination. These findings show how the physical structure of urban environments shapes predictive visuomotor strategies during real-world locomotion, providing a multimodal foundation for understanding embodied cognition in motion.