Real-time assistance for people endangered by forest fires : Mobile application

Wildfires have been having a great impact around the world and not only in countries such as Australia and the US but also here in Europe. Moreover, they are not projected to come down in frequency any time soon. This research project aims to develop a mobile app that helps people escape from a nearby forest fire. The app will make use of a fire prediction model that is being researched in parallel to this project. The state of the art is examined for similar apps and a literature review is conducted to assess the design elements required for such an app. Features discovered throughout these processes coupled with features generated during the ideation process formed the foundation for what the app should offer. Using these features a prototype mobile application was developed in Android Studio using HERE Maps for the maps and navigation. Subsequently the prototype was evaluated through user testing. Overall, it was well received however there is still much to implement and improve. This includes new features retrieved from the feedback of the user testing.