The Development of Virtual Reality Technology for Determining Fire Evacuation Drills Frequency in The Automotive Parts Manufacturer in Chonburi Province

Abstract

This study aimed to build a Simulation-based Computer Program, Virtual Reality (VR), to facilitate fire-evacuation practice in many situations. The objectives were to examine the frequency with which the participants escaped the fire safely and on time and the satisfaction evaluated by the participants. The participants were 85 employees from a production department in an auto-parts manufacturer in Chonburi province, Thailand. They were all qualified for the experiment. General information and Satisfaction evaluation scores were conducted. The fire-evacuation practice VR was used. Descriptive statistics were analyzed. The results showed that the participants could evacuate from the fire safely and on time after practicing for three rounds maximum.  Eighty-eight per cent were able to evacuate safely and accurately in the first round. The primary cause that made the participants fail the evacuation was an uncontrollable situation, with 67 per cent. This study indicates that the simulation-based computer program with Virtual Reality can benefit the users by facilitating them in fire-evacuation practice. Therefore, it is advisable to promote increased utilization of simulation-based computer programs, VR for enhancing fire evacuation drills, for more safety.