The article discusses a study on the impact of adding an olfactory cue in a Virtual Reality (VR) simulation of a historic hotel fire. The study aimed to understand human behaviour during fire evacuations. The results indicated that the addition of the olfactory cue increased the behavioural realism of participants, with 80% of actions matching those of actual survivors compared to only 40% in a VR-only scenario. The insights gained from such VR simulations can be used to improve architectural designs, training programs, and emergency procedures, thereby enhancing safety measures.
Publication date: 17 Nov 2023
Project Page: Not provided
Paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2311.09246
