A Mixed Reality Application for Multi-Floor Building Evacuation Drills using Real-Time Pathfinding and Dynamic 3D Modeling
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Date
2024
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Eurographics Association
Abstract
In modern high-rise buildings, complex layouts and frequent structural changes often hinder emergency evacuation. Traditional evacuation plans, usually 2D diagrams, do not provide real-time guidance and are difficult for occupants to interpret. We propose a Mixed Reality (MR) application to address these challenges in real-time evacuation in multi-floor buildings. This application was developed on Meta Quest 3, chosen for its status as one of the best low-cost eXtended Reality (XR) headsets and a popular standalone Head-Mounted Display (HMD). Our system allows users to rapidly rescan and update building models, ensuring that evacuation guidance is always up-to-date. The proposed approach overcomes the Meta Quest 3 API's limitation of scanning only 15 rooms. It extends its capability by saving room data externally and using spatial anchors to maintain accurate alignment with the physical environment. Additionally, the application integrates Dijkstra's algorithm to dynamically calculate optimal escape routes based on the user's real-time location. A preliminary evaluation study demonstrates the application's effectiveness in enhancing situational awareness and enabling users to stay mentally sharp, highlighting its potential to improve decision-making and emergency response in dynamic building environments significantly.
Description
CCS Concepts: Human-centered computing → Mixed / augmented reality; Software and its engineering → Virtual worlds training simulations
@inproceedings{10.2312:stag.20241331,
booktitle = {Smart Tools and Applications in Graphics - Eurographics Italian Chapter Conference},
editor = {Caputo, Ariel and Garro, Valeria and Giachetti, Andrea and Castellani, Umberto and Dulecha, Tinsae Gebrechristos},
title = {{A Mixed Reality Application for Multi-Floor Building Evacuation Drills using Real-Time Pathfinding and Dynamic 3D Modeling}},
author = {Manfredi, Gilda and Capece, Nicola and Carlo, Rosario Pio Di and Erra, Ugo},
year = {2024},
publisher = {The Eurographics Association},
ISSN = {2617-4855},
ISBN = {978-3-03868-265-3},
DOI = {10.2312/stag.20241331}
}