Implementing Virtual Reality for Fire Evacuation Preparedness at Schools
Emergency preparedness training in organizations frequently involves simple evacuation drills triggered by fire alarms, limiting the opportunities for broader skill development. Digital technologies, particularly virtual reality (VR), offer promising methods to enhance learning for handling incident...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Computers |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/14/7/286 |
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| author | Rashika Tasnim Keya Ilona Heldal Daniel Patel Pietro Murano Cecilia Hammar Wijkmark |
| author_facet | Rashika Tasnim Keya Ilona Heldal Daniel Patel Pietro Murano Cecilia Hammar Wijkmark |
| author_sort | Rashika Tasnim Keya |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Emergency preparedness training in organizations frequently involves simple evacuation drills triggered by fire alarms, limiting the opportunities for broader skill development. Digital technologies, particularly virtual reality (VR), offer promising methods to enhance learning for handling incidents and evacuations. However, implementing VR-based training remains challenging due to unclear integration strategies within organizational practices and a lack of empirical evidence of VR’s effectiveness. This paper explores how VR-based training tools can be implemented in schools to enhance emergency preparedness among students, teachers, and staff. Following a design science research process, data were collected from a questionnaire-based study involving 12 participants and an exploratory study with 13 participants. The questionnaire-based study investigates initial attitudes and willingness to adopt VR training, while the exploratory study assesses the VR prototype’s usability, realism, and perceived effectiveness for emergency preparedness training. Despite a limited sample size and technical constraints of the early prototype, findings indicate strong student enthusiasm for gamified and immersive learning experiences. Teachers emphasized the need for technical and instructional support to regularly utilize VR training modules, while firefighters acknowledged the potential of VR tools, but also highlighted the critical importance of regular drills and professional validation. The relevance of the results of utilizing VR in this context is further discussed in terms of how it can be integrated into university curricula and aligned with other accessible digital preparedness tools. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9291962c852b44fc8bc07dc7ef4d65ee |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2073-431X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Computers |
| spelling | doaj-art-9291962c852b44fc8bc07dc7ef4d65ee2025-08-20T03:36:19ZengMDPI AGComputers2073-431X2025-07-0114728610.3390/computers14070286Implementing Virtual Reality for Fire Evacuation Preparedness at SchoolsRashika Tasnim Keya0Ilona Heldal1Daniel Patel2Pietro Murano3Cecilia Hammar Wijkmark4Department of Computer Science, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 7030, 5020 Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Computer Science, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 7030, 5020 Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Computer Science, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 7030, 5020 Bergen, NorwayDepartment of Computer Science, Oslo Metropolitan University, P.O. Box 4 St. Olavs Plass, 0130 Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Computer Science, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 7030, 5020 Bergen, NorwayEmergency preparedness training in organizations frequently involves simple evacuation drills triggered by fire alarms, limiting the opportunities for broader skill development. Digital technologies, particularly virtual reality (VR), offer promising methods to enhance learning for handling incidents and evacuations. However, implementing VR-based training remains challenging due to unclear integration strategies within organizational practices and a lack of empirical evidence of VR’s effectiveness. This paper explores how VR-based training tools can be implemented in schools to enhance emergency preparedness among students, teachers, and staff. Following a design science research process, data were collected from a questionnaire-based study involving 12 participants and an exploratory study with 13 participants. The questionnaire-based study investigates initial attitudes and willingness to adopt VR training, while the exploratory study assesses the VR prototype’s usability, realism, and perceived effectiveness for emergency preparedness training. Despite a limited sample size and technical constraints of the early prototype, findings indicate strong student enthusiasm for gamified and immersive learning experiences. Teachers emphasized the need for technical and instructional support to regularly utilize VR training modules, while firefighters acknowledged the potential of VR tools, but also highlighted the critical importance of regular drills and professional validation. The relevance of the results of utilizing VR in this context is further discussed in terms of how it can be integrated into university curricula and aligned with other accessible digital preparedness tools.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/14/7/286virtual realityserious gamesemergencypreparednesseducationtraining |
| spellingShingle | Rashika Tasnim Keya Ilona Heldal Daniel Patel Pietro Murano Cecilia Hammar Wijkmark Implementing Virtual Reality for Fire Evacuation Preparedness at Schools Computers virtual reality serious games emergency preparedness education training |
| title | Implementing Virtual Reality for Fire Evacuation Preparedness at Schools |
| title_full | Implementing Virtual Reality for Fire Evacuation Preparedness at Schools |
| title_fullStr | Implementing Virtual Reality for Fire Evacuation Preparedness at Schools |
| title_full_unstemmed | Implementing Virtual Reality for Fire Evacuation Preparedness at Schools |
| title_short | Implementing Virtual Reality for Fire Evacuation Preparedness at Schools |
| title_sort | implementing virtual reality for fire evacuation preparedness at schools |
| topic | virtual reality serious games emergency preparedness education training |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/14/7/286 |
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