A Feasibility Study of Virtual Reality Technology in Guidance Design of Underground Space

Take the underground parking space with many kinds of signs, complex structure, and relatively closed room as the experimental scene, set up different types of wayfinding tasks, adopt behavior analysis method and think-aloud protocols, systematically compare the wayfinding cognition and behavior in the actual and virtual scenes from three levels of task performance, physical behavior and cognitive process, and explore the feasibility of virtual reality technology in guide sign design. Results of the study show that there is no significant difference in the subjects’ performance in two scenes. Besides, path selection and clue processings are relatively similar, indicating that virtual reality technology can be effectively applied to cognitive research on guide signs.