Abstract :
A virtual reality application called Vegas lets users experiment in real time with evacuation scenarios. Colt Virtual Reality, Ltd., based in Hampshire, United Kingdom, developed Vegas (virtual egress analysis and simulation), which runs on a 486-based PC. Its designers say that other evacuation models lack the user-friendly visualization of Vegas, and they hope its graphic capabilities will make the data available and comprehensible to a wider audience. In particular, they hope it will allow people to see how quickly fire and smoke can spread, and how important fast and calm action can be in an emergency. Colt has used Vegas to predict egress times from an underground subway station and evacuation times from a cross-channel ferry, as well as from several other, more traditional, buildings
Keywords :
accidents; disasters; emergency services; environmental engineering; microcomputer applications; safety; virtual reality; 486-based PC; Colt Virtual Reality; Vegas; buildings; cross-channel ferry; emergency; evacuation modeling; evacuation models; evacuation scenarios; evacuation times; fire; real time; simulation; smoke; underground subway station; user-friendly visualization; virtual egress analysis; virtual reality application; Analytical models; Companies; Concrete; Data security; Data visualization; Fires; Graphics; Mice; Personnel; Virtual reality;
