Evacuation Guidance Assistance System Using Emitting Sound

Abstract

The goal of our research is developing an evacuation guidance system that emits sounds on a set of loudspeakers in a spatial sequence to achieve rapid evacuation in emergency situations. For this goal, we evaluate the auditory recognition properties of emitting sounds and their ability to make evacuees follow the movement of sound stimuli in this chapter. We conduct three experiments to assess the proposed evacuation guidance method. The first and the second ones are done to investigate the recognition properties of the positions and directions of the emitting sound stimuli. The third one is done to evaluate the ability to guide evacuees to exit using the emitting sound in the spatial sequence. In the first experiment, we consider whether the four factors related to the sound-emitting method affect the identification of the emitting sound stimuli. Additionally, we investigate the patterns of emitted sounds that can easily recognize their position and direction. In the third experiment, we consider whether the evacuee can follow the emitting sound on a set of loudspeakers in spatial sequence. Moreover, it is discussed that the proposed guidance system provided a more detailed evacuation route for evacuees.