Evaluation of the Effects of Anxiety on Behaviour and Physiological Parameters in VR Fire Simulations

This study considers the use of virtual reality technologies both to evaluate the optimal exodus paths from buildings and to analyze the behaviour of people in emergencies through the monitoring of physiological parameters. The degree of realism with which VR devices can simulate highly anxiogenic scenarios is considered. The experimentation is carried out on a school building and tested through a pilot trial where saturation, blood pressure, heart rate as well as the time of exodus are monitored. The variations of the peak values of physiological parameters highlight the influence of anxiogenic elements in the participant's state of anxiety.