Towards agent-based crowd simulation in airports using games technology

We adapt popular video games technology for an agent-based crowd simulation in an airport terminal. To achieve this, we investigate the unique traits of airports and implement a virtual crowd by exploiting a scalable layered intelligence technique in combination with physics middleware and a socialforces approach. Our experiments show that the framework runs at interactive frame-rate and evaluate the scalability with increasing number of agents demonstrating navigation behaviour

Long-Term Simulation of Dynamic, Interactive Worlds with MORSE

In this talk I present recent work in the context of the European Integrated Project STRANDS (Spatio-temporal representations for Cognitive Control in Long-term Activities, http://strands-project.eu) that employ the MORSE simulator. In particular, I present three application domains to facilitate long-term simulation of dynamic worlds within that project. First, MORSE is employed in a continuous integration and testing framework helping to ensure high code quality, not only on compilation levels, but also on a level of system integration and deployment. MORSE is being used to run system level tests defined for the Jenkins continuous integration platform, enabling STRANDS to maintain a high-level of code consistency required to successfully participate in events such as the Robot Marathon. Secondly, I outline the use of MORSE, and particularly its flexible build scripts, to automatically generate worlds from Qualitative Spatial Relations (QSR). These allow to define a world qualitatively on the level of builder scripts with defined probability distribution of metric object positions and orientations. In STRANDS, this ability is exploited to generated randomised world in a controlled way, both to study the formation of QSRs and to generate randomised worlds for the before-mentioned testing framework. Finally, I present our work on Human-Robot Spatial Interaction and our preliminary efforts to simulate crowds in a robotic simulator. This final contribution is mostly work in progress with implementation in MORSE still pending. But initial results have been obtained to simulate thousands of agents in a simulated airport environment by using a hierarchical representation of vector maps to generate individual trajectories for agents. This work will lead to a more realistic simulation of human-inhabited environment and is use in STRANDS' research on human-robot spatial interaction

Attack on the clones: managing player perceptions of visual variety and believability in video game crowds

Crowds of non-player characters are increasingly common in contemporary video games. It is often the case that individual models are re-used, lowering visual variety in the crowd and potentially affecting realism and believability. This paper explores a number of approaches to increase visual diversity in large game crowds, and discusses a procedural solution for generating diverse non-player character models. This is evaluated using mixed methods, including a “clone spotting” activity and measurement of impact on computational overheads, in order to present a multi-faceted and adjustable solution to increase believability and variety in video game crowds

From individual characters to large crowds: augmenting the believability of open-world games through exploring social emotion in pedestrian groups

Crowds of non-player characters improve the game-play experiences of open-world video-games. Grouping is a common phenomenon of crowds and plays an important role in crowd behaviour. Recent crowd simulation research focuses on group modelling in pedestrian crowds and game-designers have argued that the design of non-player characters should capture and exploit the relationship between characters. The concepts of social groups and inter-character relationships are not new in social psychology, and on-going work addresses the social life of emotions and its behavioural consequences on individuals and groups alike. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of current research in social psychology, and to use the findings as a source of inspiration to design a social network of non-player characters, with application to the problem of group modelling in simulated crowds in computer games

Long-Term Simulation of Dynamic, Interactive Worlds with MORSE

In this talk I present recent work in the context of the European Integrated Project STRANDS (Spatio-temporal representations for Cognitive Control in Long-term Activities, http://strands-project.eu) that employ the MORSE simulator. In particular, I present three application domains to facilitate long-term simulation of dynamic worlds within that project. First, MORSE is employed in a continuous integration and testing framework helping to ensure high code quality, not only on compilation levels, but also on a level of system integration and deployment. MORSE is being used to run system level tests defined for the Jenkins continuous integration platform, enabling STRANDS to maintain a high-level of code consistency required to successfully participate in events such as the Robot Marathon. Secondly, I outline the use of MORSE, and particularly its flexible build scripts, to automatically generate worlds from Qualitative Spatial Relations (QSR). These allow to define a world qualitatively on the level of builder scripts with defined probability distribution of metric object positions and orientations. In STRANDS, this ability is exploited to generated randomised world in a controlled way, both to study the formation of QSRs and to generate randomised worlds for the before-mentioned testing framework. Finally, I present our work on Human-Robot Spatial Interaction and our preliminary efforts to simulate crowds in a robotic simulator. This final contribution is mostly work in progress with implementation in MORSE still pending. But initial results have been obtained to simulate thousands of agents in a simulated airport environment by using a hierarchical representation of vector maps to generate individual trajectories for agents. This work will lead to a more realistic simulation of human-inhabited environment and is use in STRANDS' research on human-robot spatial interaction

Un modèle d'environnement pour la simulation multiniveau - Application à la simulation de foules

Cette thèse propose un modèle organisationnel et holonique de l'environnement pour la simulation des déplacements de piétons dans des bâtiments. Une foule de piétons peut être considérée comme un système composé d'un grand nombre d'entités en interaction, dont la dynamique globale ne peut se réduire à la somme des comportements de ses composants. La simulation multiniveau fondée sur les modèles multiagents holoniques constitue une approche permettant d'analyser la dynamique de tels systèmes. Elle autorise leur analyse en considérant plusieurs niveaux d'observation (microscopique, mésoscopique et macroscopique) et prend en compte les ressources de calcul disponibles. Dans ces systèmes, l'environnement est considéré comme l'une des parties essentielles. La dynamique des piétons composant la foule est alors clairement distinguée de celle de l'environnement dans lequel ils se déplacent. Un modèle organisationnel décrivant la structure et la dynamique de l'environnement est proposé. L'environnement est structurellement décomposé en zones, sous-zones, etc. Les organisations et les rôles de cet environnement sont projetés dans une société d'agents ayant en charge de simuler la dynamique de l'environnement et les différentes missions qui lui sont classiquement assignées dans les systèmes multiagents. Ce modèle précise également les règles de passage entre deux niveaux d'observation. Ainsi, chaque agent appartenant au modèle de l'environnement tente d'utiliser une approximation des comportements de ses sous-zones afin de limiter la consommation de ressources durant la simulation. La qualité de l'approximation entre ces deux niveaux d'observation est évaluée avec des indicateurs énergétiques. Ils permettent de déterminer si l'agent approxime correctement les comportements des agents associés aux sous-zones. En sus du modèle organisationnel et holonique proposé, nous présentons un modèle concret de la simulation de voyageurs dans un terminal d'aéroport. Ce modèle concret est implanté sur les plateformes JaSIM et Janus.This work presents a holonic organizational model of the environment for the simulation of pedestrians in buildings. A crowd of pedestrians is considered as a system composed of a large number of interacting entities. The global dynamics of this system cannot be reduced to the sum of the behaviors of its components, Multilevel simulation based on holonic multiagent models is one approach to analyze the dynamics of such systems. It allows their analysis by considering several levels of observation (microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic) and the available computing resources. In these systems, the environment is considered as an essential part. The behavior of the crowd is clearly distinguished from the behavior of the environment in which the pedestrians move. An organizational model is proposed to describe the structure and the dynamics of the indoor environment. This environment is structurally divided into areas, sub-areas, etc. Organizations and roles are mapped into a society of agents in charge of simulating the dynamics of the environment and their various missions in multiagent systems. This model also specifies the rules for changing the level of observation dynamically. Thus, each agent belonging to the model of the environment tries to use an approximation of behaviors of its sub-zones, and at the same time to minimize the resource consumption. The quality of the approximation between these two levels is evaluated with energy-based indicators. They help to determine if the agent approximates the behaviors of its sub-agents correctly. In addition to the organizational and holonic model proposed in this work, we present a concrete model of the simulation of passengers in an airport terminal. This concrete model is implemented on the platforms JaSIM and Janus.BELFORT-UTBM-SEVENANS (900942101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Developing an agent-based evacuation simulation model based on the study of human behaviour in fire investigation reports

Fire disasters happen every day all over the world. These hazardous events threaten people's lives and force an immediate movement of people wanting to escape from a dangerous area. Evacuation drills are held to encourage people to practise evacuation skills and to ensure they are familiar with the environment. However, these drills cannot accurately represent real emergency situations and, in some cases, people may be injured during practice. Therefore, modelling pedestrian motion and crowd dynamics in evacuation situations has important implications for human safety, building design, and evacuation processes. This thesis focuses on indoor pedestrian evacuation in fire disasters. To understand how humans behave in emergency situations, and to simulate more realistic human behaviour, this thesis studies human behaviour from fire investigation reports, which provide a variety details about the building, fire circumstance, and human behaviour from professional fire investigation teams. A generic agent-based evacuation model is developed based on common human behaviour that indentified in the fire investigation reports studied. A number of human evacuation behaviours are selected and then used to design different types of agents, assigning with various characteristics. In addition, the interactions between various agents and an evacuation timeline are modelled to simulate human behaviour and evacuation phenomena during evacuation. The application developed is validated using three specific real fire cases to evaluate how closely the simulation results reflected reality. The model provides information on the number of casualties, high-risk areas, egress selections, and evacuation time. In addition, changes to the building configuration, number of occupants, and location of fire origin are tested in order to predict potential risk areas, building capacity and evacuation time for different situations. Consequently, the application can be used to inform building designs, evacuation plans, and priority rescue processes