On the Efficiency of LifeBelt Based Crowd Evacuation

To support the evacuation process of crowds from emergency situations, we have developed a wearable device, LifeBelt, for vibro tactile guidance of individuals in panic towards exits. Since visual and auditory perception is overwhelmed in situations of panic, exit sign and loudspeaker based evacuation often appears ineffective. LifeBelt as a coordinated navigation device builds on a subtle directional vibration stimulation to navigate and guide individuals to escape. This paper compares the effectiveness of a LifeBelt supported vs. non-supported evacuation from spaces with multiple exits. Based on an extended Moore's model of neighborhood for next step behavior, and a predicted shortest time to escape metric, we investigate on the efficiency effect of (i) individuals following the nearest exit (without LifeBelt), and (ii) individuals adhering LifeBelt recommendations towards the earliest escape exit. Large scale simulations show that even in situations of growing panic, LifeBelt improves evacuation efficiency by more than 34,5%.