An experiment using immersive virtual reality and a haptic interface to study human behaviour in evacuation

Evacuation simulation models are receiving increasing attention in many different fields concerning safety. However, mathematical models describing pedestrians’ behaviour are difficult to calibrate and validate. This is due to the lack of detailed experimental data, which is a consequence of the difficulties in carrying out and performing detailed measurements of physical evacuation experiments with humans. In this context, virtual reality can be a valuable resource to gather data related to human behaviour in evacuation situations. However, also virtual reality is not free from limitations. Among others, one of the most important is the lack of tactile perception. Starting from this background, this paper presents the planning and execution of an evacuation experiment through the use of virtual reality. In the experiment, users join the simulation impersonating an agent. Users’ perception of the virtual environment has been enhanced through a specifically developed haptic interface. The objective of the experiment is to gather data on the behaviour of humans in a counter-flow situation for testing the effectiveness of the haptic interface. Comparison between humans and computer-controlled agents are also carried out. The experiment is described in details, as well as the adopted hardware and the user-control model. Finally, outcomes from performed tests are presented and commented.