Development and Evaluation of a Mobile Application Using Gamification for Regional Disaster Prevention

This study aimed to develop a location-based smartphone Application called “Bosai-Go!” and evaluate its effects on regional disaster prevention. The application was designed to familiarize residents with their community through their daily life routines and motivate them to evacuate before a disaster occurs by introducing gamification. Players are provided with various regional hazard maps through their smartphone application, thereby allowing them to score points on visits to specific sites, such as hazardous spots and evacuation shelters. A field experiment for the residents around Midorikawa River basin (Kumamoto Prefecture) proved that the gameplay could motivate players of various generations to explore and understand hazard risks in their communities. We expect that this study will contribute to community-based disaster risk management.