Pedestrian evacuation in view and hearing limited condition: The impact of communication and memory

• Communication and memory effect are considered in an evacuation event.
• Simulations show communication and memory are able to enhance evacuation efficiency.
• Communication has better benefit in a more adverse environment.

This paper studies pedestrian evacuation in view and hearing limited condition based on the social force approach. It is assumed that there are two types of pedestrians: Informed individuals know the exit location whereas uninformed individuals do not. The uninformed individuals can communicate with the informed ones within their perceptual fields, thus learning to know and memorize the exit location. We consider cases with and without communication/memory. The simulations show communication and memory are able to enhance the evacuation efficiency. We also investigate the impact of communication on the efficiency of an emergency exit.