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Unannounced Evacuation Experiment in a High-Rise Hotel Building with Evacuation Elevators : A Study of Evacuation Behaviour Using Eye-Tracking

Mossberg, Axel LU ; Nilsson, Daniel and Andrée, Kristin LU (2021) In Fire Technology 57(3). p.1259-1281
Abstract

Past studies suggest that people are often reluctant to use occupant evacuation elevators in case of fire. However, existing research is scarce and current knowledge is based on questionnaire studies and laboratory experiments. An unannounced evacuation experiment was therefore performed on the 16th floor of a 35-floor high-rise hotel building. Sixty-seven participants took part and eye-tracking glasses were used to collect data on exit choice and eye fixations. Three different scenarios were studied, including two different hotel room locations on the floor and a variation of guidance system for one of these locations, i.e., flashing green lights next to the evacuation sign at the elevators. Results suggest that people typically choose... (More)

Past studies suggest that people are often reluctant to use occupant evacuation elevators in case of fire. However, existing research is scarce and current knowledge is based on questionnaire studies and laboratory experiments. An unannounced evacuation experiment was therefore performed on the 16th floor of a 35-floor high-rise hotel building. Sixty-seven participants took part and eye-tracking glasses were used to collect data on exit choice and eye fixations. Three different scenarios were studied, including two different hotel room locations on the floor and a variation of guidance system for one of these locations, i.e., flashing green lights next to the evacuation sign at the elevators. Results suggest that people typically choose the elevator for evacuation, even if their hotel room was located closer to the evacuation stair. Flashing green lights next to an evacuation sign made people look more at this sign. However, in spite of looking more at the sign, the flashing light was not shown to significantly improve compliance with the sign. Also, the results suggest that a detector activated self-closing fire door without vision panels to the elevator lobby made it more difficult to find the evacuation elevators in an emergency.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Evacuation, Evacuation elevators, Exit choice, Eye tracking, Fire, High-rise building, Human behaviour, OEE
in
Fire Technology
volume
57
issue
3
pages
23 pages
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85091732284
ISSN
0015-2684
DOI
10.1007/s10694-020-01046-1
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cc7aabf7-84e7-4982-9a6b-a2714d66d8e8
date added to LUP
2020-11-20 12:45:59
date last changed
2022-05-12 07:56:57
@article{cc7aabf7-84e7-4982-9a6b-a2714d66d8e8,
  abstract     = {{<p>Past studies suggest that people are often reluctant to use occupant evacuation elevators in case of fire. However, existing research is scarce and current knowledge is based on questionnaire studies and laboratory experiments. An unannounced evacuation experiment was therefore performed on the 16th floor of a 35-floor high-rise hotel building. Sixty-seven participants took part and eye-tracking glasses were used to collect data on exit choice and eye fixations. Three different scenarios were studied, including two different hotel room locations on the floor and a variation of guidance system for one of these locations, i.e., flashing green lights next to the evacuation sign at the elevators. Results suggest that people typically choose the elevator for evacuation, even if their hotel room was located closer to the evacuation stair. Flashing green lights next to an evacuation sign made people look more at this sign. However, in spite of looking more at the sign, the flashing light was not shown to significantly improve compliance with the sign. Also, the results suggest that a detector activated self-closing fire door without vision panels to the elevator lobby made it more difficult to find the evacuation elevators in an emergency.</p>}},
  author       = {{Mossberg, Axel and Nilsson, Daniel and Andrée, Kristin}},
  issn         = {{0015-2684}},
  keywords     = {{Evacuation; Evacuation elevators; Exit choice; Eye tracking; Fire; High-rise building; Human behaviour; OEE}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{1259--1281}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Fire Technology}},
  title        = {{Unannounced Evacuation Experiment in a High-Rise Hotel Building with Evacuation Elevators : A Study of Evacuation Behaviour Using Eye-Tracking}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10694-020-01046-1}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10694-020-01046-1}},
  volume       = {{57}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}