Enhancing Cinema Evacuation Efficiency: Impact of Flashing Lights on Emergency Egress Performance and Fire Safety

Evacuation lighting is a crucial component of cinema safety, significantly impacting operational safety and evacuation efficiency. It plays a key role in enhancing evacuation measures and ensuring the safety of cinema patrons. An experiment utilizing virtual reality technology was conducted at Beijing Forestry University with 62 subjects randomly assigned to either a control group or an experimental group. The experimental group was guided by a green flashing light as an evacuation indicator, while the control group relied on static lighting. Although some subjects overlooked the green flashing light, its presence still reduced the number of subjects choosing misleading exits. The flashing light notably improved pathfinding efficiency and evacuation performance, with the experimental group achieving an average evacuation time approximately 30% shorter than the control group. Additionally, subjects rated the sensory, cognitive, and functional aspects of the flashing light lighting from moderate to high. The findings indicate that dynamic and flashing evacuation lighting can effectively enhance fire escape efficiency in cinemas. The design of such systems should consider individual psychological responses and actual behavior patterns to optimize emergency evacuation instructions.