Journal
FIRE SAFETY JOURNAL
Volume 99, Issue -, Pages 1-11Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2018.04.011
Keywords
Virtual reality; Evacuation; Anxiety; Information; Hazard; Navigation
Funding
- National Science Foundation [CMMI-1000495, CMMI-1463520]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Many contextual factors can influence evacuees' choice of egress route during an emergency. Anxiety caused by the emergency situation may lead to suboptimal choices, resulting in slower evacuation and greater risk of injury or death. The present pilot study tests the influence of hazard level (presence of visible fire and smoke) and information about an obstacle (delivered verbally or through signage) on evacuees' anxiety levels and choice of egress route in a virtual reality (VR) simulation of a fire evacuation with multiple possible exits. Physiological measures were recorded and used to validate the efficacy of VR in inducing anxiety germane to the situation of interest. Consistent with our expectations, providing information about the obstacle was shown to decrease total evacuation time. Contrary to our predictions, it did not significantly impact evacuees' choice of exit. Information also had a marginally significant effect on participants' self-reported anxiety. Providing more targeted information may further reduce anxiety and evacuation time. More generally, VR appears well-suited to assessing individual and psychological factors in evacuations.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available