Digital twin of buildings and occupants for emergency evacuation: Framework, technologies, applications and trends

Abstract

Buildings face threats from various emergencies, with emergency evacuation being a key measure for occupant safety. However, enhancing evacuation efficiency necessitates detailed studies of building characteristics and human behaviors. Despite this, a systematic review of digital twin technologies for emergency evacuation is still lacking. Therefore, by collecting and analyzing literature from 2004 to 2025 using PRISMA methodology, this study first proposes a conceptual digital twin framework that integrates buildings, occupants, and their interactions, encompassing the entire loop of sensing, updating, simulation, and decision-making. The current research has made significant progresses in areas such as basic virtual modeling, one-way data mapping, and preliminary bidirectional interaction. However, studies and applications of digital twins remain in the developmental stage, with most at maturity levels L0-L2, while L4-L5 applications are still relatively scarce. It is suggested that the future development of digital twin-based evacuation systems must rely on multidisciplinary collaboration to achieve breakthroughs, including optimizing underlying mechanisms to enhance data and system integration; improving sensing accuracy and developing adaptive algorithms for simulation, prediction and assessment; integrating emerging artificial intelligence technologies while addressing data ethics; and enhancing computational efficiency to strengthen system robustness.