This project began with exploratory, narrative driven interviews with people who had recently experienced a wildfire evacuation.
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An emerging theme that was expanded on for this project was that people who had multiple evacuation experiences felt more confident in their pre-evacuation steps and behavior.
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The fundamental questions backing this research then became -
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How do we better support people for wildfire evacuations?​
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Can we utilize the immersive qualities of Virtual Reality to provide a safe and effective learning experience for a stressful scenario like packing one's belongings during an evacuation?
​​Read: Toward Evacuation Training in Virtual Reality: Requirements Gathering for Wildfire Experiences
Generated 2 working prototypes of a VR game/ simulation in Unity 3D to expand on, present/ discuss with professionals, and then test.
Pilot Testing
Ran a n=10 pilot study testing the usability of the fire evacuation game in VR. Tested with an Oculus Quest 2 on a public university campus located in a wildfire prone area. ​
Player Experience Assessment - Findings​
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10/ 10 participants stated they would play this VR experience again
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9/ 10 participants felt like they were in a real evacuation
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9/ 10 participants felt the controls were easy to use
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6/ 10 participants searched for the cat to pack away first​​
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Positive change seen when asking participants if they knew what items they would pack in an evacuation scenario (pre - post survey data)
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Post-study Survey - 4 participants felt more strongly that they knew where items were located in their own home; while 3 participants felt more unsure​​
​Design Recommendations​
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Increase immersion & interactivity - more sound, make the fire appear closer as time goes on, have the in-game friend provide feedback on items to pack
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Consider other movement possibilities (teleportation) or allow players to use boxes and bags to transport items to the truck (to address cybersickness concerns)
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Increase the resolution and identification on some of the in-game items (e.g., prescription medication bottle, ID card, canned food)
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Potential for making the game harder - more stressful (reducing time limit; have the cat run away from players)
What's Next?
A/B Testing - Comparing a Mobile version to the VR application
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Increasing Immersion: Incorporating smoke (essential oil diffuser) during gameplay