Abstract
Abstract. Each year, lives are needlessly lost to floods due to residents failing to heed evacuation advisories. Risk communication research suggests that flood warnings need to be more vivid, contextualized, and visualizable, in order to engage the message recipient. This paper makes the case for the development of a low-cost augmented reality tool that enables individuals to visualize, at close range and in three-dimension, their homes, schools, and places of work and worship subjected to flooding (modeled upon a series of federally expected flood hazard levels). This paper also introduces initial tool development in this area and the related data input stream.
Highlights
Thousands of people fail to evacuate from water hazard events
The literature is still sparse regarding how qualities of the augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) images and interfaces affect the effectiveness of the simulation and through what cognitive pathways these interfaces work to enhance risk perception and readiness-to-act
We explore the possibilities of 3D flood representations for improving viewer comprehension even further
Summary
Thousands of people fail to evacuate from water hazard events. As will be discussed, a number of cognitive models support the proposition that augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) could help overcome persistent cognitive roadblocks to effective risk communication and subsequent evacuation actions. Lieske (2012) discusses how such visualization tools make up for, or complement, one’s understanding of the severity of a risk It is an open question whether such visualization aids motivate individuals to act, since the person’s personal threshold for action has to be met, along with a perception that one’s actions can be effective (Lieske, 2012). AR/VR may enhance risk communication in yet another way, which is to increase a person's perception of both the ability to act and the efficacy of any potential risk-reductive action, as proposed by the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991). If the user could move around a simulated environment in different ways, it may increase the person's sense of empowerment This suggests that the quality (i.e., the degree of resolution and detail) of the simulated image may be key to enhancing the above effects. The literature is still sparse regarding how qualities of the AR/VR images and interfaces affect the effectiveness of the simulation and through what cognitive pathways these interfaces work to enhance risk perception and readiness-to-act
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
