A Study on Improving Disaster Mitigation Awareness by Simulated Flood Experience Using VR Videos

Abstract

In recent years, the frequency of floods has been increasing every year, causing considerable damage, in particular, to human life due to delays in evacuation. In this research, a web page containing a questionnaire was created to investigate the changes in human action during floods to contribute to efficient disaster prevention and mitigation activities by residents and municipality officers in charge of disaster management. The subjects were made to watch videos created using Virtual Reality (VR) technology. The questionnaire on the web page was used to verify whether watching the VR videos would change people's attitudes toward disaster mitigation in the event of a flood. The results showed that the subjects who watched the VR videos were more likely to choose the correct action and the decision time to choose the action was earlier. These results indicate that VR videos can be used to raise awareness of efficient disaster mitigation actions during floods.