Experimental study and theoretical analysis of signage legibility distances as a function of observation angle

Signage systems are widely used in buildings to provide information for wayfinding, thereby assisting in navigation during normal circulation of pedestrians and, more importantly, exiting information during emergencies. An important consideration in determining the effectiveness of signs is establishing the region from which the sign is visible to occupants, the so-called Visibility Catchment Area (VCA). This paper attempts to factor into the determination of the VCA of signs, the observation angle of the observer using both experimental and theoretical analysis.

Signage legibility distances as a function of observation angle

Signage systems are widely used in buildings to provide information for wayfinding, thereby assisting in navigation during normal circulation of pedestrians and, more importantly, exiting information during emergencies. An important consideration in determining the effectiveness of signs is establishing the region from which the sign is visible to occupants, the so-called visibility catchment area (VCA). This study attempts to factor into the determination of the VCA of signs, the observation angle of the observer. In building regulations, it is implicitly assumed that the VCA is independent of the observation angle. A theoretical model is developed to explain the relationship between the VCA and observation angle and experimental trials are performed in order to assess the validity of this model. The experimental findings demonstrate a consistency with the theoretical model. Given this result, the functionality of a comprehensive evacuation model is extended in accordance with the assumptions on which the theoretical model is based and is then demonstrated using several examples

Simulating the interaction of occupants with signage systems

This paper describes the introduction of chained signage systems into evacuation simulation models. Signage systems are widely used in buildings to provide information for wayfinding, thereby providing exiting information during emergencies and assisting in navigation during normal circulation of pedestrians. Recently a system was developed to introduce simple signs into egress models. The system, known as Visibility Catchment Area or VCA, allowed similated agents to interact with signs which point directly to an exit and signs which are located directly above the exit. However, this approach was not able to represent the more general situation of a sign netwokr within an arbitrarily complex building. In this paper we extend the method to include chained signage systems which provides simulated agents that are unfamiliar with the structure a means by which to navigate to an emergency exit. The model includes the associated navigation behaviours exhibited by occupants that rely on a signage system for navigation including: Searching behaviours, Backtracking behaviours, Lost behaviours and Communication behaviours. The new features are demonstrated through a series of demonstration cases and are shown to produce plausible results.