Understanding the importance of 'Guardianship' in deterring burglars using VR

We know from previous research that the presence of people around their houses (see and 'guardians' by the offender) deters burglars, but we don't know how this works. A large sample of convicted burglars in the Netherlands are assessing virtual neighbourhoods in which different types of virtual 'guardians' are visible. In some the avatars simply stand in their front gardens on the phone, in some they make eye contact with the oncoming burglar and in some they speak to the oncoming burglar. In all the VNs there is signage indicating different levels of neighbourhood watch activity too. From this we will learn whether different types of guardianship are more effective than others, so that limited crime prevention money can be targeted more effectively.