Way-finding lighting systems for rail tunnel evacuation: A virtual reality experiment with Oculus Rift®

ABSTRACT An experimental study has been conducted to investigate if a new and simple system, that is, stripes of high-bright dynamic green LED lights installed on the floor, can support people way-finding in smoke-filled railway tunnel evacuations. The impact of way-finding installations on people evacuation (intended as people movement paths and evacuation times) has been studied using Oculus Rift, a head-mounted display (HMD) device for virtual reality. Two different way-finding installation setups have been investigated. A rail tunnel evacuation scenario has been developed in a virtual environment and the behavior of 60 test participants has been observed (one control group with no installations available and two groups with either alternate or continuous high-bright dynamic green lights). Results show a positive impact of way-finding lighting installations on people evacuation safety. No significant differences have been found between the impact of dynamic alternate and continuous lights on participants' evacuation behavior. Both installation setups influenced movement paths of test participants during the evacuation process, that is, participants tend to walk closer to the lights.

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