Compelling AR Earthquake Simulation with AR Screen Shaking

Our goal is to simulate earthquakes in a familiar environment, for example in one’s own office, helping users to take the simulation more seriously. We propose an AR earthquake simulation using a video see-through VR headset, use real earthquake data, and implement a novel AR screen shake technique, realistically shaking the entire view of the user. We run a user study (n=25), where participants experienced an earthquake both in a VR scene and two AR scenes with and without the AR screen shake technique. Our results suggest that both AR scenes offer a more compelling experience compared to the VR scene, and the AR screen shake improved immediacy and was preferred by most participants. This showed us how virtual safety training can greatly benefit from an AR implementation, motivating us to further explore this approach for the case of earthquakes.