Humans naturally walk anticlockwise, research suggests

Reviewing video footage of people moving in various environments, including museums, supermarkets, and empty rooms, the researchers consistently noted a drift towards counterclockwise movement. Further experiments conducted with individual pedestrians and small crowds confirmed this tendency. The findings held true even when researchers accounted for factors like right-handedness, right-footedness, and right-eye dominance, and were observed in both men and women, with a more pronounced bias noted in children. Dr. Claudio Feliciani from the University of Tokyo collaborated to confirm the results in Japan.

Scientists theorize that this collective bias emerges as tiny individual tendencies to turn slightly to one side accumulate in shared spaces, resulting in a net counterclockwise rotation. However, the precise reason for this bias remains unclear. Researchers are exploring potential causes through virtual reality experiments and simulations where participants pretend to have a broken leg, hoping to gain insight into how we perceive and interact with our environment. The findings could have practical applications in creating more realistic crowd and evacuation simulations and in designing public spaces like museums, supermarkets, and train stations.

Interestingly, this left-turn bias is not unique to humans; rock ants have also been shown to exhibit a similar preference when exploring new nests. Professor Gareth Irwin, head of sport and exercise biomechanics at Cardiff Metropolitan University, noted that athletes in the first modern Olympics in 1896 ran clockwise, but this was changed in 1913 because it felt unnatural. The current anticlockwise direction in athletics is likely linked to the population's right-leg dominance, which places more internal force on the right side of the body when navigating a bend.