Digital communication technologies to support end-users learning for a safe return to school during COVID-19

The paper provides support for the definition of COVID-19 protocols in order to allow the safe re-opening of an educational building. It also derives a reusable approach extendable to other building typologies. The integrated adoption of multiple simulation-oriented technologies is investigated. A case study is considered, where crowd simulation, agent-based simulation, and communication tools have been integrated with a hybrid approach. By means of computer games, the adoption of which is within the scope of this paper, end-users can experience school use processes within a virtual environment (1) contributing to the realism of the simulation and (2) obtaining useful information regarding the protocols in force to re-duce COVID-19 risks.