In crises and disasters, people are under stress and great tension. How does a warning column need to be designed in order to be noticed even in such stressful situations? Scientists at emergenCITY want to find out by conducting a study on the Litfaßsäule 4.0 advertising column.

The Litfaßsäule 4.0 is being tested as an innovative warning and information medium in crisis situations – now also under realistic stress simulation. In a human-computer interaction (HCI) study, the team led by Florian Müller, professor of human-computer interaction at TU Darmstadt and associated with emergenCITY, is testing whether citizens recognize warning messages on the Litfaßsäule 4.0 when they are under stress.

“We are investigating how well people under mental stress perceive, comprehend, and respond to urgent information on the Litfaßsäule 4.0 when under stress. That’s how we simulate stressful or emergency situations,” explains the head of the study.

To recreate these conditions, participants complete a cognitively demanding n-back test on a tablet during, in which they must recognize a colored ball among different colored balls. This test gradually increases the mental stress, simulating a typical situation that can also occur in real crises. At the same time, short warnings appear on the LED displays of the Litfaßsäule 4.0, to which the participants must respond as quickly and correctly as possible.

Results for Effective Emergency Communication

The researchers measure reaction times, response accuracy, and subjective stress levels. In addition, they vary the distance to the column and use typical emergency sounds to take distraction effects into account.

The study aims to derive concrete design recommendations for effective public warning and information displays that are relevant beyond Darmstadt. The results of the study will be incorporated into the further development of Litfaßsäule 4.0, which is being supported by the DiReX Application and Transfer Center and tested in collaboration with partners from the city administration, fire department, and business community.