Agent-Based Simulation of Collective Cooperation: From Experiment to Model

Abstract

Simulation models of pedestrian dynamics have become an invaluable tool for evacuation planning. Typically crowds are assumed to stream unidirectionally towards a safe area. Simulated agents avoid collisions through mechanisms that belong to each individual, such as being repelled from each other by imaginary forces. But classic locomotion models fail when collective cooperation is called for, notably when an agent, say a first-aid attendant, needs to forge a path through a densely packed group. We present a controlled experiment to observe what happens when humans pass through a dense static crowd. We formulate and test hypothesis on salient phenomena. We discuss our observations in a psychological framework. We derive a model that incorporates: agents' perception and cognitive processing of a situation that needs cooperation; selection from a portfolio of behaviours, such as being cooperative; and a suitable action, such as swapping places. Agents' ability to successfully get through a dense crowd emerges as an effect of the psychological model.

arXiv comment16 pages, 19 figures, 5 tables, 4 listings, interdisciplinary work between computer science and psychology

References in corpus (9)

• Social Force Model for Pedestrian Dynamics
• How simple rules determine pedestrian behavior and crowd disasters
• Transitions in pedestrian fundamental diagrams of straight corridors and T-junctions
• Collective phenomena in crowds - where pedestrian dynamics need social psychology
• Comparison of bidirectional pedestrian flows by experiments
• Modelling social identification and helping in evacuation simulation
• Gradient Navigation Model for Pedestrian Dynamics
• Mechanical response of dense pedestrian crowds to the crossing of intruders
• Quantitative Comparison Between Crowd Models for Evacuation Planning and Evaluation

Cited by in corpus (5)

• A Review of Platforms for the Development of Agent Systems
• Pedestrians in static crowds are not grains, but game players
• Exploring crowd persistent dynamism from pedestrian crossing perspective: An empirical study
• Discrepancies in Pedestrian Crossing of Static vs. Dynamic Crowds: An Experimental Study
• CosIn: A Statistical-based Algorithm for Computation of Space-speed Time Delay in Pedestrian Motion