Rapid evacuation from large buildings is challenging due to their complex layout making wayfinding difficult. While emergency signage is widely used to aid wayfinding, recent research demonstrates that only 38% of people perceive conventional exit signs. Furthermore, conventional signage only conveys single and passive information and so cannot adapt to changing conditions. The EU FP7 GETAWAY project addresses this problem through the development of a unique and innovative Intelligent Active Dynamic Signage System (IADSS), which routes occupants to their optimal exits during an evolving incident. This paper presents two key steps in the development of the IADSS concept. First, a novel negated signage concept identifying that an exit route is no longer viable was devised and tested using an international survey. The results demonstrate that the negation concept can be clearly understood by over 90% of the sample. The second step involved two fullscale evacuation trials in a rail station that demonstrated that it was possible to direct over 60% of the participants to the targeted exit through the use of the Active Dynamic Signage System (ADSS). The ADSS makes use of the negated signage concept and a development involving a green flashing arrow within the standard emergency exit sign.
This paper presents the results of an unannounced theatre evacuation involving 1200 people. The evacuation took place towards the end of a live theatre performance in the Marlowe Theatre in Kent UK. In particular, Response Phase behaviours are discussed and response time data is presented. A significant finding of this work which is different to other reported work is that the occupant response time distribution, while following the typical log-normal distribution is related to the geometrical positioning of the occupants relative to proximity to exit aisles and exits. Response time is found to increase relative to seat distance from the exit aisles and distance of the seat row to an exit. The identified trends in response time distribution will have a profound impact on the analysis of evacuation times and congestion levels determined using agent based evacuation models and so should be represented within these models. Based on these findings, a generalised methodology is proposed to distribute response time within a theatre for use in evacuation simulation applications. Further experimental analysis is required to determine whether these observations can be generalised and applied to other seated venues such as cinemas, music venues and sports arenas.
Emergency exit signs form an essential part of building wayfinding systems. However, in some emergency evacuation situations many people fail to see the emergency exit signs and in some cases, even if detected by the population, the signs have been ineffective in leading them to safety. These failings are primarily due to their inability to attract the immediate attention of the people they are there to assist and their lack of an ability to respond to a changing threat environment. The need for exit signs that attract attention when they need to be conspicuous, to redirect people to not just an exit route, but a viable and if possible an optimal exit route in an evolving emergency has driven the development of a new generation of advanced signage system, the Intelligent Active Dynamic Signage System (IADSS). The IADSS, developed as part of the European Commission FP7 funded GETAWAY project, attempts to meet these needs through the development of a novel Active Dynamic Signage System (ADSS) which can be controlled by an intelligent decision support system. This paper presents results that refine the effectiveness of the ADSS. When an exit route is considered non-viable, the adapted ADSS provides not only negative information i.e. that an exit is no longer available, but also positive information, i.e. directing the population to an alternative exit. In addition, in situations where a voice alarm system is used in conjunction with the ADSS, it is also important to ensure that the messaging does not potentially contradict the intent of the ADSS. The improved ADSS was tested in full-scale evacuation trials in a rail station. The trials suggest that the improved ADSS with voice alarm messaging that does not contradict the signage system successfully redirected 66% of the participants to the intended exit.
In this paper results from an unannounced evacuation trial conducted within a library in Izmir Turkey are presented and discussed. This experimental evacuation is part of a large international study investigating the impact of culture on evacuation behavior. In addition, a framework to enable the systematic analysis of Response Phase behaviors is presented and applied to the trial data. The framework not only provides a consistent method for describing Response Phase behavior, but also provides a framework for classifying and quantifying the Response Phase other than simply using the overall response time. An empirical response time model, based on data generated using the framework is also presented and applied to the evacuation trial data. The empirical response time model produces a prediction for the average response time for the trial population which is within 11% of the measured value. In addition to presenting Response Phase data, a data-set suitable for the validation of evacuation models is also presented. Computer simulations which attempt to reproduce the trial are compared to the validation data-set. While initial results are promising, analysis suggests that a model representation of exiting behavior through the exit turnstile is necessary.
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