Improvement awareness of disaster management using virtual reality-based tsunami disaster drills

Virtual reality has the potential to be a unique tool to experience simulated disasters in a dynamic and immersive environment. Researchers thus developed an experience-based tsunami drill in a virtual reality space using a tsunami evacuation simulation on a head-mounted display. A 3D model of Mikuni-Minato area, Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, was built based on data. Questionnaires survey were supplied to 28 participants who were residents of the Mikuni-Minato area. The questionnaire included items on the effectiveness of tsunami simulation, evacuation behavior, awareness of disaster management and possible future actions after the evacuation drill. The findings reveal that the evacuation drill effectively improved awareness of disaster management among local residents. In particular, 46.4% stated “I decided to improve the evacuation route,” 67.9% stated “I realized that disaster drills were important,” and 60.1% stated “Will prepare disaster goods.” While the study confirmed the effectiveness of VR-based drills using head-mounted devices, we suggest further improvements to make the simulations more realistic.