Transferring Fire Modelling Sciences into Augmented Reality: A Realistic and Safe Reconstructed Fire Scenario

Fire emergencies present significant challenges to human safety, with evacuation success relying on situational awareness and informed decision-making. Traditional methods, such as rendered fire simulations and physical evacuation drills, often fail to capture the complexity of fire dynamics or prov...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jason C. S. Wong, Peter S. P. Wong, Raj Das, Anthony C. Y. Yuen, Sherman C. P. Cheung
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Fire
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/4/132
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850144524113805312
author Jason C. S. Wong
Peter S. P. Wong
Raj Das
Anthony C. Y. Yuen
Sherman C. P. Cheung
author_facet Jason C. S. Wong
Peter S. P. Wong
Raj Das
Anthony C. Y. Yuen
Sherman C. P. Cheung
author_sort Jason C. S. Wong
collection DOAJ
description Fire emergencies present significant challenges to human safety, with evacuation success relying on situational awareness and informed decision-making. Traditional methods, such as rendered fire simulations and physical evacuation drills, often fail to capture the complexity of fire dynamics or provide realistic, immersive environments for evaluating human behaviour. To address these limitations, this study pioneers a novel augmented reality (AR) platform that, for the first time, integrates real-time, scientifically accurate fire dynamics simulations with immersive visualisations. Unlike existing approaches, the proposed AR workflow offers an end-to-end process, from geometry extraction, fire simulation, and data processing to visualisation in real-world settings. This enables a high-fidelity representation of flame structures and smoke layers, providing an interactive tool for studying evacuee behaviour. A primary survey was conducted to evaluate user perceptions and exit choice preferences in AR environments. Results showed that 77% of participants preferred AR over traditional simulations, citing its interactivity and improved situational awareness. The survey also confirmed that clear signage significantly influences evacuation decisions, with 71% choosing the nearest exit when the exit sign was visible, compared to 31% when obscured. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of AR for evaluating human behaviour in fire scenarios and highlight its potential as a safe, cost-effective tool for fire safety engineering and emergency preparedness.
format Article
id doaj-art-057bf62cae9543069ec6cffdaed3325f
institution OA Journals
issn 2571-6255
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Fire
spelling doaj-art-057bf62cae9543069ec6cffdaed3325f2025-08-20T02:28:20ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552025-03-018413210.3390/fire8040132Transferring Fire Modelling Sciences into Augmented Reality: A Realistic and Safe Reconstructed Fire ScenarioJason C. S. Wong0Peter S. P. Wong1Raj Das2Anthony C. Y. Yuen3Sherman C. P. Cheung4School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, AustraliaSchool of Property Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, AustraliaSchool of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, AustraliaDepartment of Building Environment and Energy Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaSchool of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, AustraliaFire emergencies present significant challenges to human safety, with evacuation success relying on situational awareness and informed decision-making. Traditional methods, such as rendered fire simulations and physical evacuation drills, often fail to capture the complexity of fire dynamics or provide realistic, immersive environments for evaluating human behaviour. To address these limitations, this study pioneers a novel augmented reality (AR) platform that, for the first time, integrates real-time, scientifically accurate fire dynamics simulations with immersive visualisations. Unlike existing approaches, the proposed AR workflow offers an end-to-end process, from geometry extraction, fire simulation, and data processing to visualisation in real-world settings. This enables a high-fidelity representation of flame structures and smoke layers, providing an interactive tool for studying evacuee behaviour. A primary survey was conducted to evaluate user perceptions and exit choice preferences in AR environments. Results showed that 77% of participants preferred AR over traditional simulations, citing its interactivity and improved situational awareness. The survey also confirmed that clear signage significantly influences evacuation decisions, with 71% choosing the nearest exit when the exit sign was visible, compared to 31% when obscured. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of AR for evaluating human behaviour in fire scenarios and highlight its potential as a safe, cost-effective tool for fire safety engineering and emergency preparedness.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/4/132augmented reality (AR) in fire trainingreal-time fire immersive visualisationfire dynamics simulationemergency evacuation behaviourexit sign visibility
spellingShingle Jason C. S. Wong
Peter S. P. Wong
Raj Das
Anthony C. Y. Yuen
Sherman C. P. Cheung
Transferring Fire Modelling Sciences into Augmented Reality: A Realistic and Safe Reconstructed Fire Scenario
Fire
augmented reality (AR) in fire training
real-time fire immersive visualisation
fire dynamics simulation
emergency evacuation behaviour
exit sign visibility
title Transferring Fire Modelling Sciences into Augmented Reality: A Realistic and Safe Reconstructed Fire Scenario
title_full Transferring Fire Modelling Sciences into Augmented Reality: A Realistic and Safe Reconstructed Fire Scenario
title_fullStr Transferring Fire Modelling Sciences into Augmented Reality: A Realistic and Safe Reconstructed Fire Scenario
title_full_unstemmed Transferring Fire Modelling Sciences into Augmented Reality: A Realistic and Safe Reconstructed Fire Scenario
title_short Transferring Fire Modelling Sciences into Augmented Reality: A Realistic and Safe Reconstructed Fire Scenario
title_sort transferring fire modelling sciences into augmented reality a realistic and safe reconstructed fire scenario
topic augmented reality (AR) in fire training
real-time fire immersive visualisation
fire dynamics simulation
emergency evacuation behaviour
exit sign visibility
url https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/4/132
work_keys_str_mv AT jasoncswong transferringfiremodellingsciencesintoaugmentedrealityarealisticandsafereconstructedfirescenario
AT peterspwong transferringfiremodellingsciencesintoaugmentedrealityarealisticandsafereconstructedfirescenario
AT rajdas transferringfiremodellingsciencesintoaugmentedrealityarealisticandsafereconstructedfirescenario
AT anthonycyyuen transferringfiremodellingsciencesintoaugmentedrealityarealisticandsafereconstructedfirescenario
AT shermancpcheung transferringfiremodellingsciencesintoaugmentedrealityarealisticandsafereconstructedfirescenario