Pervasive emergency support systems for building evacuation

Abstract

An emergency situation taking place inside a confined space, such as a building, is a challenging task due to the presence of dynamic conditions. Pervasive systems can prove beneficial for the evacuation procedure, as they can provide directions to the evacuees regarding the best available exit. In this paper we describe two pervasive systems geared towards emergency support, which are deployed inside a building. Both systems use simple communications in order to collect and disseminate information regarding the best evacuation paths. We use a multi-agent simulation platform to demonstrate how the use of the systems improves the outcome of the evacuation procedure.