Design-based guidelines for the semantic perception of emergency signs.

The current study applies semantic differential to explore the semantic perception of emergency signs, in an attempt to analyze the meanings of emergency signs in regard to the psychological exigencies of the general public. The results indicate that problems concerning recognition accuracy have been observed, but also that the evaluation of the semantic meaning of the signs is positive. However, a number of emotional factors also emerge, indicating that if improvements should be made to the existing emergency signs, it would better facilitate evacuation in the event of an emergency. As for the design guidelines, the emergency signs should be readily recognizable and have a single meaning. Multiple symbolic meanings should be eliminated. Concrete design guidelines include: (a) safety movement, (b) clarity, and (c) safety. To avoid confusion in sign recognition, in addition to the improvements made based on the abovementioned guidelines, educational promotional activities carried out by the government would also prove very beneficial.

Using virtual reality to determine how emergency signs facilitate way-finding.

In this study, virtual reality was the tool used to construct an experimental space. Three scenarios - one without emergency signs, another with an old-version emergency sign, and the third with a new-version emergency sign - were created, after which 107 subjects, divided into three groups, engaged in an emergency escape game to determine if and how various emergency signs aid in way-finding in the event of an emergency. Under the presupposition that the minimum time needed for an emergency escape without any mistake occurring was 40s, we found that the average way-finding time in the scenario without any emergency signs was 123.8s, for the scenario with the new-version signs 84.8s, and for the scenario with the old-version signs 75.6s; statistically, this demonstrated that the absence of signs results in slower escape than either old signs (p=0.001) or new signs (p=0.005). These findings indicate that signs do help way-finding greatly. Males were found to exhibit better way-finding skills than females (p<0.001). Construction workers and fire safety personnel, as a combined group, did not fare better than others with less presumed prior experience with building plans or emergency exit procedures. In addition, when faced with both an emergency direction sign and an exit door, almost half of the subjects (42% of the participants) were chosen to take the door instead of following the direction posted on the sign. Finally, we found that, at T-intersections, the majority of participants (60%) chose to turn left versus right.

Exploratory research on reading cognition and escape-route planning using building evacuation plan diagrams.

The purpose of evacuation plan diagrams is for readers to comprehend and then plan an evacuation route. However, comprehending such diagrams involves complex issues that have yet to be addressed by research. This study aims to investigate how Taiwanese people interpret evacuation plan diagrams in their buildings. Issues of interest include the amount of time that it takes for a member of the general public to read a diagram and the time that they spend planning their escape route. Correlated and influencing factors are analyzed. The floor plan of an actual department store was used as the diagram for cognitive testing. A method of stimulated measurement was conducted over the Internet. The results of the experiment showed that the time it takes to plan an escape route is about 1.1 to 2 times longer than its reading time. This indicates that there is a significant time difference between diagram interpretation and stimulated planning. It was found that the longer it takes to read a diagram, the longer it takes to plan an escape route. In addition, to understand the difference between interpretations by the general public versus those with an architectural background, an analysis showed that the general public takes two to three times longer than architectural professionals to read a diagram and plan an escape route. Consequently, improvements in reading diagrams could help in the planning of a more efficient escape route. Furthermore, through our analysis, we found that the design of diagram symbols must satisfy conventional use and also that diagrams must avoid the use of metaphorical and abstract symbols. Diagrams that follow our guidelines will generally result in more effective and efficient conveyance of the intended message, thereby assisting in an emergency.