Abstract
This paper aims to explore the strength of environmental variables (i.e., corridor width and brightness), in directing people to indoor locations during emergency situations. The existence of contradictory information was manipulated by inserting posted signs pointing to the opposite direction to the one suggested by the environmental variables. A Virtual Reality-based methodology was used to collect participants’ directional choices. Sixty-four participants had to find a specific room as quickly as possible in a virtual hotel in which they navigated through 12 corridor intersections (two-forced-choices). Two experimental conditions were considered (i.e., Signs and No-signs conditions) according to the exit signs availability. Results indicated that for the first decision point in an emergency situation with signs, 65.6% of the participants preferred to follow the wider corridor instead of the exit sign direction. Percentages of choices favoring the path opposite to that posted by the sign decreased along the escape route suggesting that with the repeated exposure to an exit sign people increased their compliance with it.
Chapter PDF
References
Vilar, E., Rebelo, F., Noriega, P., Teles, J., Mayhorn, C.: The influence of environmental features on route selection in an emergency situation. Applied Ergonomics 44(4), 618–627 (2013)
Tang, C.-H., Wu, W.-T., Lin, C.-Y.: Using virtual reality to determine how emergency signs facilitate way-finding. Applied Ergonomics 40(4), 722–730 (2009)
Gamberini, L., Cottone, P., Spagnolli, A., Varotto, D., Mantovani, G.: Responding to a fire emergency in a virtual environment: different patterns of action for different situations. Ergonomics 46(8), 842–858 (2003)
International Organization for Standardization (ISO): Graphical Symbols - Safety Colors and Safety Signs. Part 1: Design Principles for safety Signs in Workplaces and Public Areas. ISO 3864-1. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva (2002)
Hochmair, H., Frank, A.U.: Influence of estimation errors on wayfinding-decisions in unknown street networks - analyzing the least-angle strategy. Spatial Cognition and Computation 2(4), 283–313 (2000)
Hochmair, H.H., Karlsson, V.: Investigation of Preference Between the Least-Angle Strategy and the Initial Segment Strategy for Route Selection in Unknown Environments. In: Freksa, C., Knauff, M., Krieg-Brückner, B., Nebel, B., Barkowsky, T. (eds.) Spatial Cognition IV. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 3343, pp. 79–97. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)
Conroy-Dalton, R.: The Secret Is To Follow Your Nose: Route path selection and angularity. Environment and Behavior 35(1), 107–131 (2003)
Conroy, R.: Spatial navigation in immersive virtual environments. Doctoral dissertation. University of London, London (2001)
Hölscher, C., Meilinger, T., Vrachliotis, G., Brösamle, M., Knauff, M.: Up the down staircase: Wayfinding strategies in multi-level buildings. Journal of Environmental Psychology 26(4), 284–299 (2006)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Vilar, E., Rebelo, F., Noriega, P., Teixeira, L., Duarte, E., Filgueiras, E. (2013). Are Emergency Egress Signs Strong Enough to Overlap the Influence of the Environmental Variables?. In: Marcus, A. (eds) Design, User Experience, and Usability. User Experience in Novel Technological Environments. DUXU 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8014. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39238-2_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39238-2_23
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-39237-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-39238-2
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)