Elisângela Vilar

Are Emergency Egress Signs Strong Enough to Overlap the Influence of the Environmental Variables

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.

Evaluating Emotional Responses to the Interior Design of a Hospital Room: A Study Using Virtual Reality

Many studies have shown the ability of interior design elements (e.g., artwork, nature, home elements) to elicit positive emotions on hospital users thereby enhancing the healing process. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether such elements can affect users’ emotional responses during a VR experience. In this study we explored the influence of interior design elements (i.e., landscape poster, painting, plant and home chair), on the participants’ emotional responses after being exposed to 3D virtual hospital rooms. We used a short version of Zipers scales, developed by Zuckerman, to explore participants’ emotional responses regarding 28 rooms, resulting from all the possible combinations of the identified elements plus a neutral and a negative room. Our sample included 30 university students. The results show that the more elements present in the hospital room the more positive the emotional response. The landscape and artwork elements emitted positive responses, whereas the home chair did not.

A Living Labs Approach for Usability Testing of Ambient Assisted Living Technologies

This paper presents usability tests results with real users during the prototype development phase of two applications for seniors care, AALFred and SmartCompanion. To this aim, usability testing was performed considering a Living Lab approach. Seniors were invited to use the applications in an environment that simulates the one they would use the tested technology during their everyday life. Observation methods, thinking aloud and questionnaires were used to collect data related to the systems’ effectiveness and users’ satisfaction, namely their expectations, frustrations and difficulties. Evaluations were performed during the initial phases of product development and results were used to improve the applications, considering the development cycle of User-Centered Design methodology.

A Pilot Study Using Virtual Reality to Investigate the Effects of Emergency Egress Signs Competing with Environmental Variables on Route Choices

Emergencies (e.g., fire egress) into complex buildings are stressful situations which can provoke unexpected, undesired and sometimes unsafety behaviors in the users. Thus, the main objective of this pilot study was to investigate the relative influence of new technology-based exit signs, when compared to the conventional static ISO-type counterparts, in the users’ wayfinding behavior during an emergency egress. A critical situation was designed in which the environmental variables and exit signs, at the 12 decision points, were giving conflicting directional information. Thirty participants were randomly assigned to the two groups (i.e., Static signs and dynamic signs), and their route-choices in the 12 decision points displaced along a route into a virtual hotel were collected using a Virtual Reality-based methodology. Findings suggest that for the group exposed to static ISO-type exit signs, the reliance on environmental variables decreased along the egress route, and for the first intersection about 73% of participants preferred to follow by the direction which was the opposite of that posted on the egress sign. However, when technology-based signs were used, the influence of the environmental variables was weak from the first decision point to the end, as suggested by a compliance rate with the exit signs reaching almost 98% along the entire route.

Sense of Presence in a VR-Based Study on Behavioral Compliance with Warnings

Recent researches suggest that Virtual Reality (VR) is amongst the best tools for examining behavioral compliance with warnings, therefore overcoming some ethical and methodological constrains that have been limiting this type of research. Yet, such evaluation using VR requires both usable and engaging virtual environments (VEs). This study examines the sense of presence experienced by the participants after having been immersed in a VE designed for evaluating the effect of sign type (static vs. dynamic) on compliance. The VR simulation tested here allowed participants to perform a realistic work-related task and an emergency egress, during which they were supposed to interact with warnings and exit signs. A neutral condition (i.e., no/minimal signs) was used as a control condition. Subjective and objective data were gathered from two sources, respectively, i.e., a post-hoc questionnaire administered to the participants, and a video analysis of the participants’ interaction behavior during the VR simulation. Results reveal high levels of presence across the three experimental conditions.

Environmental Affordances as a Way to Help in the Design of Videogame Worlds

Videogame worlds can be read like built environments, so the approaches used to plan real environments may help the design of virtual worlds. In this way, this paper presents a pilot study that the main objective is to investigate affordances of the environment that can influence people’s path selection, namely the corridor width. The main hypothesis is that the corridor width will influence people’s preference regarding the path they choose in order to escape from a building (in an emergency situation). Stereoscopic images projected in a screen were presented using a constant stimulus method combined with a two-forced choice method to collect user’s responses. Findings suggests that there is a tendency to bear right when users are in an “T” intersection where the right and left corridors are equal, and they tend to turn to the larger corridor regardless its direction.

Methodology to apply a usability testing by non specialized people: evaluation of the european platform e-Exhibitions

This paper presents a methodology developed to the Usability analysis of a platform to create and publish virtual exhibitions (e-Exhibitions Platform). This methodology was developed considering its application by anybody without large experience in usability testing. The methodology was applied with success in Portugal, Italy and Germany with a sample of 18 subjects. This methodology intends to fill the gap related to the long-distance usability testing applied by people without experience in this kind of test.

Smart Systems in Emergency Wayfinding: A Literature Review

Wayfinding difficulties may lead people to avoid places; it also can make them late for important occurrences such as business meetings or flights, which may cause loss of opportunity and money. Additionally, as settings grow in dimension and complexity, emergency evacuation emerges as a key problem, and wayfinding becomes a matter of life and death. Thus, a large concentration of people, with different degrees of familiarity with the building, motivations, and anxieties, should be able to satisfy their needs in a network of paths leading to different destinations, even when, during an emergency, they face doubtful situations created by the incongruence between the architecture and the signage system. In this context, the present paper is focused on a theoretical review on emergency evacuation process and signage systems in order to explore new paradigms on emergency wayfinding into complex building. Considering the evolution of technology in terms of availability, cost and ease of use, this paper discusses the use of traditional and new wayfinding system considering some established theories such as the “cry wolf” and the “learned irrelevance” theories.

Affordances on Route Selection in an Emergency Situation: A Study with Children

Understanding the influence of affordances during the processes of route selection could be a key factor to improve egress in emergency situations. Previous studies [1], showed that in a T-type corridor, the brightness acted as factor of attraction improving the affordance of that corridor in an emergency egress situation Here, we test this effect in children. Participants were presented with an adapted narrative of a fire inside a school. Their task was to choose which of the two corridors they would follow to leave school. We used T-type intersections in which one corridor (left or right) was brighter than the other. Bright corridors were chosen 48% for group aged 3 to 6 years, 65% for group aged 7 to 10 and 90% for adults. Results can be interpreted as children looking at affordances in a different way than adults, what might have implications in the design of safety built environments.

Virtual Reality Self Induced Cybersickness: An Exploratory Study

Virtual reality (VR) has been used successfully in several studies, namely in the area of safety warnings design. However, regarding cybersickness, this technology it is not innocuous. We report results concerning cybersickness related with awareness of the secondary effects of VR before doing an experiment. Two groups of participant were found. A group that read the consent form (CF) with attention and a group that did not pay attention to the CF and just signed it. The consent contained information about the experiment and also an alert on the secondary effects of VR. In the VR experiment, participants were asked to accomplish a task in a virtual environment (VE) related with other study. Findings suggest that for those who read the consent form carefully, thus, were more aware about VR side effects, there were more symptoms of cybersickness and more withdraws. These reported results rise some practical and also ethical issues related with VR experiments that are discussed in this paper.