Fire Immersive Response and Evacuation in Extended Reality

In Extended Reality (XR) environments, navigation is a crucial part that makes up a satisfying user experience. Effective navigation allows users to move through and interact with the digital world easily and naturally. Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies, although both aim to provide an immersive experience, approach navigation and user interactions significantly different. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of navigating through different XR environments on user experience. To thoroughly understand the impacts, we created and conducted surveys on a fire safety training course in three different formats, namely, video-based, VR-based and MR-based training. According to the user study, the VR application tends to be more immersive but can cause motion sickness, whereas the MR version excels by allowing intuitive interactions and enhancing users’ awareness of real-world prop locations. Our findings help identify which XR environment promotes ease of use, reduces motion sickness and enhances spatial awareness, ultimately inform design choices for more effective and user-friendly XR applications.