| 1. |
- Arias, Silvia, et al.
(författare)
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A virtual reality study of behavioral sequences in residential fires
- 2021
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Ingår i: Fire Safety Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0379-7112. ; 120
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Decision-making in residential fires can be difficult to study in an experimental setup. Virtual reality could be a way to expose participants to a residential fire scenario and collect data on their behavior. However, the validity of the data obtained needs to be assessed. To explore that, the data collected in two virtual reality residential fire scenarios in form of sequences of behavior was compared to the general model developed by Canter, Breaux and Sime. Two scenarios were developed, one with and one without a smoke alarm. Two samples of 20 participants each were exposed to a fire in a virtual house. The participants were residents of houses with the same layout as the virtual one, making them familiar with the building. The sequence of actions they performed were recorded and decomposition diagrams were drafted based on them, to then be compared to the general model. The results show that the participants’ sequences of behavior did not only fit those predicted by the general model, but also that the participants followed many different sequences, covering most of the possible patterns indicated in the general model, as it is expected in a real world fire.
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| 2. |
- Arias, Silvia
(författare)
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Application of Virtual Reality in the study of Human Behavior in Fire : Pursuing realistic behavior in evacuation experiments
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Virtual Reality (VR) experiments are used to study human behavior in fire because they allow simulation of fire events with relatively low risks to the participants, while maintaining high levels of experimental control. Manystudies have used VR experiments to explore aspects of the human response to fire threats, but VR experiments as a research method are yet to be subjected to a systematic process of validation. One way to validate VR experiments is to compare VR data to data obtained using other research methods, e.g., case studies, laboratory experiments, and field experiments. Five independent VR experiments were designed to collect data that could be then compared to data collected using other research methods. Both datasets, VR and physical, are thencompared with each other to assess similarities and differences between them. Results show that participants in the VR experiments often acted like people did in the physical-world events. Moreover, Human Behavior in Fire theories that explain the behavior of victims in real fires were found to also explain the participants’ behavior in the VR experiments. There were differences between VR and physical-world samples, which highlighted limitations of VR experiments or aspects about realism that need to be considered when designing VR experiments. Visual realism is not enough for participants to interpret a virtual fire emergency as a threat. Therefore, VR experiments need to induce participants to take the virtual fire event seriously. Social norms that apply in physical world contexts may not emerge naturally in virtual environments, and measures should be taken to enhance behavioral realism in VR. These findings are a meaningful contribution to the development of the VR experiment method for collection of behavioral data.
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| 3. |
- Arias, Silvia, et al.
(författare)
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Pursuing behavioral realism in Virtual Reality for fire evacuation research
- 2021
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Ingår i: Fire and Materials. - : Wiley. - 0308-0501 .- 1099-1018. ; 45:4, s. 462-472
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of virtual reality in human behavior in fire research has the advantage of being able to produce results comparable to more traditional laboratory or field experiments. This method relies not only on the technology employed but also on the participants' perception of realism when exposed to a virtual emergency scenario. A virtual scenario can be perceived as realistic based on the way it looks and on the way objects in it operates. However, in some experiments, behavioral realism can be the most relevant feature to obtain meaningful results. In this article, knowledge gained by running four different virtual reality experiments is presented in the form of challenges and recommendations to enhance the realism of the virtual experience. Although not in a comprehensive way, these challenges and recommendations refer to different parts of the process of running a virtual reality experiment for research in human behavior in fire, from the design of the environment to the behavior of the participants in it. The recommendations provided are based on observations. By spreading this knowledge, it is expected to aid the broader fire safety engineering community to develop more realistic virtual reality experiments for data collection on human behavior in fire.
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