Differentiating XR technologies to study pedestrian behaviour during fire evacuations

Abstract

Pedestrian evacuation studies often rely on eXtended Reality (XR) technologies like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) to replicate hazardous conditions. This study assesses the effectiveness of these XR modes in simulating fire evacuations to determine the best XR mode for pedestrian fire-evacuation research. Participants completed evacuation tasks across four reality settings (VR, AR, MR, and a physical reality (PR) baseline) while their movement patterns, biometric signals, and subjective responses were recorded. The differences across the XR modalities are showcased at tactical, operational and psychological levels. Findings indicate consistent tactical behaviour across XR modes, but significant differences in operational behaviour and user experience (UX). MR emerged as the most effective in eliciting fire emergency response, balancing higher subjective presence scores and operational performance.