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Creators/Authors contains: "Amanda C. Dings, Constantina M."

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  1. This work considers a level-set based algorithm for guiding evacuees in indoor environments. The algorithm considers the accumulated inhalation of a hazardous substance such as carbon monoxide and attempts to provide an optimal path to ensure survivability. The algorithm also considers psychological decision making of evacuees. The most significant psychological contribution to overall evacuation time is the tendency of evacuees to underreact, causing decision making delays. During an emergency, evacuees with high risk perception will be directly incentivized to make evacuation decisions, while those with low risk perception will likely continue to delay decision making. This work models this phenomenon by simulating an initial accumulated concentration before the evacuee begins moving. Earlier work has shown that level-set based paths are much more likely to lead an evacuee to safety than a constant angle path, because they ensure the evacuee’s peak exposure to the hazardous substance remains low. After including the psychological delay, this work supports these results. Additionally, a higher initial concentration (i.e. a longer psychological delay) decreases the chances of survival more significantly than does a higher instantaneous concentration of the field itself. 
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