The Influence of an Immersive Multisensory Virtual Reality System with Integrated Thermal and Scent Devices on Individuals’ Emotional Responses in an Evacuation Experiment

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) technology has proven to be a valuable tool for exploring human behaviors during construction disasters. Enhancing VR systems with multisensory devices can amplify participants' immersive experiences and emotional response to emergency events. The potential of thermal and scent feedback to intensify negative emotions and immersion in virtual disaster scenarios remains unconfirmed. Addressing this gap, this study developed an immersive VR system equipped with thermal feedback and scent feedback mechanisms, embedded within a multisensory human-computer interface, to investigate their influence on participants’ negative emotional response and sense of presence. Findings indicated that thermal feedback devices by allowing participants to detect notable changes in ambient temperature, markedly augmented negative emotional states, cardiac responses, and skin conductance reactions. Meanwhile, although participants could identify noxious smells emitted by the scent player, and while the scent player did evoke negative emotions, this impact was not significantly stronger than the absence of scent feedback. This research underscores the importance and efficacy of incorporating thermal feedback in virtual disaster environments, and advances the utility of VR as a more potent investigatory tool in the realm of individual behavior during building emergencies.