Effects of visual information on decision making during way-finding in emergency and non-emergency situations

Finding the way out of a building during evacuation is not an easy task. Ideally, instructions provide clear and unambiguous information to occupants about the best means to evacuate. However, many times, building occupants may find the best course of action is not always clear. Conflicting or ambiguous cues can make a process that requires a quick response, slow and possibly more dangerous. Emergency signage may be vague, conflicting with other cues, or easily overlooked. The egress route directed by signage may appear difficult to traverse or dangerous. It is crucial then to best understand how evacuees find, interpret, and act upon visual information provided by emergency signage and egress routes in emergency situations. We tested the way visual information of signage and routes is used when an occupant needs to evacuate a building. In a virtual reality experiment, conflicting visual cues were pitted against each other in order to best understand how participants use visual information.