BEHAVIOURAL PERFORMANCE OF PEOPLE DURING CIRCULATION AND MOVEMENT IN BUILDING ENVIRONMENTS
Thank you for your interest in participating in these trials. The trials are now completed and have have closed the registration process. Please keep an eye on the FSEG ( http://fseg.gre.ac.uk ) web site as we often run trials and require volunteers.
VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED FOR BEHAVIOUR EXPERIMENTS
The Fire Safety Engineering Group of the University of Greenwich will be undertaking a series of experimental trials in August 2017 to investigate people interaction within the built environment. This research will contribute to improving the design of buildings for normal circulation and emergency movement. We are looking for volunteers to contribute to this important and worthwhile research.
Volunteers will be required to enter a building via a staircase, climb two flights of stairs unaided and navigate around a building. Volunteers will not be exposed to any conditions that would not be expected during normal movement within an office environment. The trials will take place in one of the historic buildings on the Maritime Campus of the university located in Greenwich.
Each participant will be paid £30 for their participation. If you are interested please read on.
PURPOSE OF THE TRIALS
The purpose of this study is to better understand the nature of human interaction with building configuration and layout. The project will collect human performance data relating to the behavioural responses of people during circulation and movement within building environments. The study consists of a number of trials involving volunteers simply moving through an unfamiliar building space. The actions of the participants will be recorded on video enabling later detailed analysis of their actions and performance. The data collected will extend our understanding of how people interact with building spaces and ultimately to the design of more people-friendly and safer building environments. The data collected will also contribute to improving computer simulation tools used to simulate both pedestrian movement and evacuation in buildings.
The nature of the experiments cannot be fully revealed at this point in time as knowledge of the precise purpose of the experiments will bias the results. However, it can be stated that participants will not be expected to do anything that they would not normally do in moving around a typical building environment.
THE TRIALS
The trials will take place in one of the historic buildings on the Maritime Campus of the University of Greenwich located in Greenwich. We are seeking volunteers
- who are between the age of 18 and 70 years of age,
- who are able to climb two flights of stairs unaided,
- and find their way around a building alone and unassisted.
We welcome volunteers from any age, gender, social or cultural grouping. Unfortunately, due to the nature of these trials, staff/students of the University of Greenwich familiar with the Queen Anne Building, people under the age of 18 or who have severe mobility or visual impairments/disabilities cannot participate.
During the trials, individual participants will be asked to navigate their way around a selected building interior until they reach a defined end point or a member of staff indicates the trial has ended. Participants will be equipped with head gear fitted with a video recording device that will effectively record what they see. At the end of the trials, participants will be requested to complete a short questionnaire.
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The actual process of participating in the trial and completing the questionnaire should take approximately 1 hour. However, participants may be required to wait prior to the start of the trial or prior to completing the questionnaire. Therefore participants should expect to stay up to the entire period of their registered time slot (three and a half hours).
RIGHT TO WITHDRAW, PAYMENT AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Participant agreement to take part in the trials does not affect their right to withdraw from the trial at any stage and at any time. However, payment (£30 each) will be made on the day of the trial and ONLY on completion of participation in the trial and on completion of the questionnaire.
The data collected in the trials will be used for research proposals only and will not be used to identify individuals. Arrangement will be made to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998.
WHEN WILL THE TRIALS TAKE PLACE
The trials will be run over a number of days and you will be required to participate on only one day and one time slot as shown below:
| Date | Morning session | Afternoon session |
| 12 August (Saturday) | 09:00~12:30 | 12:30~16:00 |
| 13 August (Sunday) | 09:00~12:30 | 12:30~16:00 |
REGISTRATION AND MORE INFORMATION
If you are interested in participating in this research, please click “Register” at the bottom of this page. We request that you select a range of dates and time slots (and any comments) when you would be available to participate in these trials. Please note you will only be invited to attend ONLY ONE session. However, the more slots you select, the greater chance you have of participating.
The person responsible for organising and running these trials is the Director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group. His contact details are:
Prof Ed Galea
Phone: 0208 331 8730
Email: e.r.galea@gre.ac.uk
HOW TO GET HERE
On the day of the trials, please go to the University cafeteria located beneath the Chapel in the Queen Mary building where a member of staff will meet you and check you in (see red arrow below). Please make sure that you arrive 10 minutes before the set time, as you will be taken promptly, as a group, to the experiment location. The cafeteria is at the car park end of the Queen Mary Building and the entrance is on the side of the building facing the Queen Anne building. The address of campus is Park Row, Greenwich, SE10 9LS.
A number of buses can be used to travel to this campus including bus numbers 129, 286, 386, 177, 180 and 188, depending on your initial location. The nearest underground station is Cutty Sark (DLR); the nearest over-ground stations are Greenwich and Maze Hill. You can find more information concerning the location and parking in detail at the web link:
http://fseg.gre.ac.uk/fire/newlocation.html
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Your time and effort will contribute to the success of this trial. We appreciate your help and look forward to meeting you on the day.
Fire Safety Engineering Group
University of Greenwich
Greenwich Maritime Campus
Greenwich SE10 9LS
