Special Issue Sociology

Development of a VR Vertical Evacuation Simulator for Schools Integrating Conformity Bias for Disaster Preparedness Education

In recent years, Japan has experienced frequent water-related disasters, including earthquake-induced tsunamis and flooding caused by heavy rainfall, increasing the importance of disaster preparedness measures. However, participation in disaster drills remains low, indicating that many citizens do not regard disaster preparedness as a personally relevant issue. In addition, conventional drills often require participants to follow predetermined routes and therefore make it difficult to experience unexpected situations, such as blocked routes or collective behavior during panic. Although disaster simulators using virtual reality (VR) have advanced, few studies have focused on indoor flooding while also considering the influence of other evacuees’ incorrect evacuation behavior. This study therefore developed a simulator that enables users to experience vertical evacuation during indoor flooding in school facilities, which are often designated as evacuation sites. By placing non-player characters (NPCs) that exhibit incorrect evacuation behavior, the simulator makes it possible to examine how the behavior of others may affect participants’ evacuation decisions, subjective difficulty, and sense of urgency. An empirical evaluation clarified the simulator’s potential value for disaster preparedness education and awareness raising, as well as issues requiring further verification.

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