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A Study on Evacuation Behavior in Physical and Virtual Reality Experiments

Arias, Silvia LU ; Mossberg, Axel LU ; Nilsson, Daniel and Wahlqvist, Jonathan LU (2022) In Fire Technology 58(2). p.817-849
Abstract

Comparing results obtained in Virtual Reality to those obtained in physical experiments is key for validation of Virtual Reality as a research method in the field of Human Behavior in Fire. A series of experiments based on similar evacuation scenarios in a high-rise building with evacuation elevators was conducted. The experiments consisted of a physical experiment in a building, and two Virtual Reality experiments in a virtual representation of the same building: one using a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE), and one using a head-mounted display (HMD). The data obtained in the HMD experiment is compared to data obtained in the CAVE and physical experiment. The three datasets were compared in terms of pre-evacuation time,... (More)

Comparing results obtained in Virtual Reality to those obtained in physical experiments is key for validation of Virtual Reality as a research method in the field of Human Behavior in Fire. A series of experiments based on similar evacuation scenarios in a high-rise building with evacuation elevators was conducted. The experiments consisted of a physical experiment in a building, and two Virtual Reality experiments in a virtual representation of the same building: one using a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE), and one using a head-mounted display (HMD). The data obtained in the HMD experiment is compared to data obtained in the CAVE and physical experiment. The three datasets were compared in terms of pre-evacuation time, noticing escape routes, walking paths, exit choice, waiting times for the elevators and eye-tracking data related to emergency signage. The HMD experiment was able to reproduce the data obtained in the physical experiment in terms of pre-evacuation time and exit choice, but there were large differences with the results from the CAVE experiment. Possible factors affecting the data produced using Virtual Reality are identified, such as spatial orientation and movement in the virtual environment.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Elevators, Evacuation, Eye-tracking, Fire safety, Virtual Reality
in
Fire Technology
volume
58
issue
2
pages
817 - 849
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85115058226
ISSN
0015-2684
DOI
10.1007/s10694-021-01172-4
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cfe94c1a-2037-4d40-8021-b2de68c30ded
date added to LUP
2021-10-05 10:50:54
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:40:52
@article{cfe94c1a-2037-4d40-8021-b2de68c30ded,
  abstract     = {{<p>Comparing results obtained in Virtual Reality to those obtained in physical experiments is key for validation of Virtual Reality as a research method in the field of Human Behavior in Fire. A series of experiments based on similar evacuation scenarios in a high-rise building with evacuation elevators was conducted. The experiments consisted of a physical experiment in a building, and two Virtual Reality experiments in a virtual representation of the same building: one using a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE), and one using a head-mounted display (HMD). The data obtained in the HMD experiment is compared to data obtained in the CAVE and physical experiment. The three datasets were compared in terms of pre-evacuation time, noticing escape routes, walking paths, exit choice, waiting times for the elevators and eye-tracking data related to emergency signage. The HMD experiment was able to reproduce the data obtained in the physical experiment in terms of pre-evacuation time and exit choice, but there were large differences with the results from the CAVE experiment. Possible factors affecting the data produced using Virtual Reality are identified, such as spatial orientation and movement in the virtual environment.</p>}},
  author       = {{Arias, Silvia and Mossberg, Axel and Nilsson, Daniel and Wahlqvist, Jonathan}},
  issn         = {{0015-2684}},
  keywords     = {{Elevators; Evacuation; Eye-tracking; Fire safety; Virtual Reality}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{817--849}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Fire Technology}},
  title        = {{A Study on Evacuation Behavior in Physical and Virtual Reality Experiments}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10694-021-01172-4}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10694-021-01172-4}},
  volume       = {{58}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}