Effects of modified emergency signs on way-finding in a virtual environment

In an unfamiliar environment, there are various way-finding methods during fire accidents. The most common tool used is the emergency sign. In Taiwan it is still unclear how emergency signs assist with way-finding and most people may not clearly identify the meaning of these types of signs. Previous studies did not conduct emergency experiments in a reality-based setting. Thus, this study utilizes virtual reality to conduct experiments that simulate the cognition effectiveness of emergency signs and sign improvement. Results indicate that through virtual experiments, the assistance effectiveness of sign cognition toward way-finding is observed and proper improvement of signs present better assistance effectiveness. In addition, after improvement, subjects demonstrate higher understanding values than the ISO suggests by 67%. As a result, this study offers modified reference results for future studies.