Emotional Pathways: Analyzing the Impact of Emotions and Safety Signs on Evacuation Decisions in Virtual Reality

Objective: Investigate the impact of safety sign parameters (size/height/deviation) on anxiety levels in fire evacuation scenarios.

Methods:

·  Constructed a VR campus fire escape scene, inviting 15 participants to perform emergency evacuation tasks.

·  Analyzed anxiety levels using task duration and physiological signals (EEG/ECG).

Results: Designed and developed the experimental prototype.

Abstract:

This project developed a campus fire escape simulation scenario based on a VR environment, where three factors—size, placement height, and deviation of escape signs—were cross-set to explore how these different factors influence the stress and anxiety of escapees during an emergency. The experiment invited 15 participants to perform a task test, where they were required to quickly return to the first-floor safe area from a randomly selected high-rise classroom after an alarm went off. Throughout the test, the participants' EEG and ECG data were monitored. By analyzing the task duration and the brain-heart electrical data, the study concluded the extent to which these factors impacted the participants.

Keywords: Virtual Reality (VR), Environments, Emotions, Safety Signs, Evacuation decision