INVESTIGATION OF THE PERCEPTION OF EMERGENCY EXIT SIGNS

This research aims to survey and analyze how people interpret the meaning of emergency exit signs in Taiwan in order to investigate whether emergency exit signs effectively and correctly convey their message. From the results of our research, we found that the emergency exit sign effectively conveys its meaning to people. The main factors involved in the perception are (1) emotion, (2) direction and movement, (3) clarity, and (4) safety. In particular, the sign s clarity and direction have been widely recognized and well-perceived. However, there are still some emotional connotations in the emergency exit sign which show that if improvements can be made to the existing emergency exit signs with extra attention paid to the four aspects mentioned above, the signs will more effectively convey their intended meaning and indicated function, and thus be more helpful in an emergency.