Enhancing the earthquake behavioral responses and post-earthquake evacuation preparedness of building occupants is beneficial to increasing their chances of survival and reducing casualties after the mainshock of an earthquake. Traditionally, training approaches such as seminars, posters, videos or drills are applied to enhance preparedness. However, they are not highly engaging and have limited sensory capabilities to mimic life-threatening scenarios for the purpose of training potential participants. Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) and Serious Games (SG) as innovative digital technologies can be used to create training tools to overcome these limitations. In this study, we propose an IVR SG-based training system to improve earthquake behavioral responses and post-earthquake evacuation preparedness. Auckland City Hospital was chosen as a case study to test our IVR SG training system. A set of training objectives based on best evacuation practice has been identified and embedded into several training scenarios of the IVR SG. Hospital staff (healthcare and administrative professionals) and visitors were recruited as participants to be exposed to these training scenarios. Participants’ preparedness has been measured along two dimensions: 1) Knowledge about best evacuation practice; 2) Self-efficacy in dealing with earthquake emergencies. Assessment results showed that there was a significant knowledge and self-efficacy increase after the training. In addition, participants acknowledged that it was easy, helpful, and engaging to learn best evacuation practice knowledge through the IVR SG training system.

增强建筑居民的地震行为反应和地震后疏散准备，有助于增加他们的生存机会，并减少地震主震后的人员伤亡。传统上，采用培训方法，例如研讨会，海报，视频或演习来增强备灾能力。但是，它们并没有高度参与，并且在模拟潜在威胁生命的情景方面的感官能力有限，目的在于培训潜在参与者。沉浸式虚拟现实（IVR）和严肃游戏（SG）作为创新的数字技术，可以用来创建培训工具来克服这些限制。在这项研究中，我们提出了一个基于IVR SG的培训系统，以改善地震行为反应和地震后疏散准备。选择奥克兰市医院作为案例研究来测试我们的IVR SG培训系统。已经确定了基于最佳疏散实践的一组培训目标，并将其嵌入到IVR SG的几种培训方案中。招募了医院工作人员（卫生保健和行政管理专业人员）和来访者作为参与者，以接受这些培训方案的训练。参与者的准备情况已从两个方面进行了衡量：1）关于最佳疏散实践的知识；2）处理地震紧急情况时的自我效能感。评估结果表明，训练后知识和自我效能有显着提高。此外，与会人员承认，通过IVR SG培训系统学习最佳疏散实践知识很容易，很有帮助并且投入很大。已经确定了基于最佳疏散实践的一组培训目标，并将其嵌入到IVR SG的几种培训方案中。招募了医院工作人员（卫生保健和行政管理专业人员）和来访者作为参与者，以接受这些培训方案的训练。参与者的准备情况已从两个方面进行了衡量：1）关于最佳疏散实践的知识；2）处理地震紧急情况时的自我效能感。评估结果表明，训练后知识和自我效能有显着提高。此外，与会人员承认，通过IVR SG培训系统学习最佳疏散实践知识很容易，很有帮助并且投入很大。已经确定了基于最佳疏散实践的一组培训目标，并将其嵌入到IVR SG的几种培训方案中。招募了医院工作人员（卫生保健和行政管理专业人员）和来访者作为参与者，以接受这些培训方案的训练。参与者的准备情况已从两个方面进行了衡量：1）关于最佳疏散实践的知识；2）处理地震紧急情况时的自我效能感。评估结果表明，训练后知识和自我效能有显着提高。此外，与会人员承认，通过IVR SG培训系统学习最佳疏散实践知识很容易，很有帮助并且投入很大。