Simulation of human movement and behaviour in crowded spaces using gaming software

This paper discusses the development of human movement and behaviour simulation in crowded spaces as part of the AUNT-SUE (Accessibility and User Needs in Transport for Sustainable Urban Environments) research project. The research starts with applying a video observational method to understand human movement and behaviour in crowded spaces in the real world. Six hours of video were recorded at a multi-mode transportation system and almost 19,000 individual human movements and behaviours were analyzed. Six types of behaviour were derived from the three major movements of free, opposite and same direction. Six factors affecting human movement and behaviour were recognized from the video analysis. The DarkBASIC Professional gaming software was used to simulate the human movement and behaviour in the virtual world. The six factors affecting human movement and behaviour were considered as the parameters for the virtual humans. Case studies considering multi-mode transportation systems, bottleneck and non-bottleneck situations were applied to validate the prototype software system

Human movement and behaviour simulation using gaming software

The provision of urban transportation systems that are inclusive and allow full participation in society for older people and people with disabilities is an important aspect of urban sustainability. This includes improving the design of transportation interchanges where divers individual humans interact in a crowded area. Simulation is an example of a beneficial method that can be widely applied to visualise and understand the problems using virtual environments. This research focuses on the development of simulation tools to simulate human movement and behaviour in crowded areas. A video observational method was applied as an input to understand and analyse human movement and behaviour in the real world. Six hours of video recording were recorded at a multi-mode transportation system covering weekdays, weekend, peak and off-peak times. Almost 19,000 individual humans were observed and the behaviour that they exhibited can be divided into six different types (known as Moving Through, Move-Stop-Move, Queuing, Competitive, Avoiding and Passing Through) which were determined from three major human movement types of free, same and opposite direction. Object-oriented gaming software was used to simulate the human movement and behaviour in the virtual environment based on agent-based modelling. Six factors affecting human movement and behaviour in the real world including Personal Objective, Visual Perception, Speed of Movement, Personal Space, Crowd Density and Avoidance Angle or Distance were considered as the parameters for the virtual humans. Case studies considering free, same and opposite direction movement with multi-mode transportation systems, bottleneck and non-bottleneck situations were applied to validate the prototype software system

Agent-based modelling and simulation through video observation analysis

The understanding of human behaviour in the real world is important aspect of attempts to develop effective tools that simulate humans in areas such as ergonomics, manufacturing, transportation, psychology and architecture. In this research, video observation studies and analysis is applied to understand the individual human behaviour in crowded spaces. Individual human behaviour is modelled and simulated using ‘agents’ with differing characteristics and abilities in a virtual environment. The focus is on developing a simulation method that supports an ‘inclusive’ sustainable environment which allows full participation of the elderly and disabled people in society

Crowd simulation: A video observation and agent-based modelling approach

Human movement in a crowd can be considered as complex and unpredictable, and accordingly large scale video observation studies based on a conceptual behaviour framework were used to characterise individual movements and behaviours. The conceptual behaviours were Free Movement (Moving Through and Move-Stop-Move), Same Direction Movement (Queuing and Competitive) and Opposite Direction Movement (Avoiding and Passing Through). Movement in crowds was modelled and simulated using an agent-based method using the gaming software Dark BASIC Professional. The agents (individuals) were given parameters of personal objective, visual perception, speed of movement, personal space and avoidance angle or distance within different crowd densities. Two case studies including a multi-mode transportation system layout and a bottleneck / non-bottleneck evacuation are presented

Towards understanding of human behaviour in crowded spaces

Human behaviour in the real world is important information for developing human behaviour models and simulations. However, it is difficult to capture ‘real’ human behaviour since each human has unique char-acteristics. As part of the AUNT-SUE (Accessibility and User Needs in Transports - Sustainable Urban Environments) project, this research is aimed at understanding individual human behaviour in crowded spaces based on video observation analysis. The video observation analysis employed a video observation method where a multi-mode transportation system in Malaysia was selected as a case study. The observa-tion focus was at an exit door where considerable variety of human movement and behaviour could be observed. Six hours of video recording was conducted covering weekdays, weekends, peak and off-peak times. Almost 19,000 individual humans were observed and categorised into six different behaviours that were determined from the three major human movements of free, opposite direction and same direction movement

Employee motivation and learning behaviours in Malaysian manufacturing industries

The topics of motivation and job satisfaction have been the subjects of interest to researchers in the past decade. Many researchers and practitioners have studied the driving factors that motivate staff in the workplace, but no specific finding has shown the correlation between motivation and job performance. This study is an attempt to improve the understanding of the human contribution to variability in manufacturing industries and focuses on the relationship between employee motivation and learning behaviours while doing different tasks. Industrial and experimental studies have been conducted to test four hypotheses concerning simple/complex tasks, skilled/unskilled workers and group/individual working. It was found that none of the hypotheses were supported. These findings are expected to be useful for future reference especially related to the motivation and learning theories among employees in manufacturing industries

Evaluation of Upper Limb Muscle Activation Using Musculoskeletal Model with Wearable Assistive Device

In recent years, wearable assistive device has been used to support upper arm movement training for rehabilitation purposes. A wearable assistive device could affect the muscle output during motor tasks to support upper limb disorder rehabilitation training. However, the investigation of muscle activity with the given assistive force is not widely investigated. In this study, the evaluation of upper limb muscle activities using musculoskeletal simulation systems with the developed wearable cabledriven assistive device has been carried out. An experimental protocol consisting of a series of motions was executed with five healthy subjects. Muscle activation on the brachioradialis, biceps, and triceps muscles was measured by using surface electromyography (EMG) and analyzed. The simulations with a musculoskeletal model to estimate muscle output with and without a wearable assistive device were performed for three tasks. An assistive upper arm device was integrated into the musculoskeletal model, and the desired assistive force is translated to the arm joint along with a tendon routing structure. Assisting movement by the wearable device was evaluated by measuring muscle activation with-assist and without-assist conditions. The results show that the use of the wearable assistive device can effectively assist in arm movement. Comparisons of measured EMG muscle data and the musculoskeletal model revealed that muscle force was generated throughout the arm. The integrated musculoskeletal model results show that muscle force values for two primary muscles (biceps and brachioradialis) were reduced during the simulated task when wearing the assistive device. These results are congruent with expectations, with the assistive device that supports the upper limb movement, providing practical assistance. The results highlight the importance of evaluating muscle output for the developed wearable assistive device to support the assistive movement. Lastly, the musculoskeletal simulation system could reduce the resource-intensive, and time consumed with the experimental testing could be achieved

Human behaviour simulation using gaming software based on video observation analysis

Computer simulation is one of the techniques applied by engineers and architects to evaluate building designs before real construction is undertaken. Computer simulation is also applied in crowd research to evaluate the safety of building designs for human evacuation during emergency situations. By using computer simulation, the best and worst-case scenarios during emergency evacuation can be predicted without using real humans by carrying out the simulation many times (Gwynne, et al., 1999). This provides many advantages compared to experimental methods (e.g. fire drills) when dealing with the ethical issues and rarely occurring events. Besides that, the simulations can be applied to investigate the outcome of different evacuation strategies (Hsiung, et al., 2009) and to investigate emergent behaviour based on new theories or hypotheses (Pan, et al., 2006). In this research, computer simulation is applied to develop a prototype of a ‘toolkit’ or computer program that is able to model and simulate human movement and behaviour in crowded spaces. The research has its origin in the AUNT-SUE (Accessibility and User Needs in Transport - Sustainable Urban Environment) project that emphasized the need to accommodate the largest possible range of humans with different abilities and aspirations (Marshall, et al., 2008) based on the philosophy of ‘inclusive design’, ‘design for all’ or ‘universal design’. A video observation method was used in this research to record ‘real’ human movement and behaviour in crowded spaces. Once analysed, the recorded video is considered as input data for the human behaviour simulation. The simulation focuses on the microscopic scale where each individual character within the crowd is considered. Additionally, heterogeneous characters or different types of humans such as older people, disabled people, young and able- bodied are also considered. However, the simulation only focuses on the normal situation where there is no panic condition. The gaming software DarkBASIC Professional was applied after the video observation analysis

Motivation and learning in manufacturing industries

Problems of motivation and job satisfaction have continued to plague developing countries like Malaysia. The driving factors to motivate employees have frequently been studied, but no correlation between motivation and job satisfaction has been found. The study described here focuses on work motivation, satisfaction and performance together with their relationships with learning behaviours. The research consisted of an industrial study of 356 employees from manufacturing industries in Malaysia. Unskilled employees preferred group working on complex tasks whereas skilled employees preferred to work individually, in both cases increasing motivation, satisfaction and performance. Task complexity was found to be an important factor in job design and learning. Learning in groups was a significant factor in workplace learning for both unskilled and skilled employees. Knowledge of the relationships between motivation and learning is expected to be useful for employers and policy makers in organisations especially in manufacturing industries in Malaysia

An Anthropometric Measurement Of Cerebral Palsy Children For Developing Product Design

In ergonomics fields, anthropometric data can be used and applied in product design and used to develop design process. The research was conducted to study application of anthropometric data in product design for children with special needs. The research focused on anthropometric measurement of the children’s hand with cerebral palsy. However, no specific data of cerebral palsy (CP) children in Malaysian that could be obtained. The objective of this research is to apply and analyze an anthropometric database of cerebral palsy children (aged 12 month – 15 years old) for product design. The data analyze is using descriptive statistic method producing mean, percentiles and standard deviation (S.D) value for anthropometric variables. 30 children with cerebral palsy are involved in this study and 19 hand dimensions have been measured. The subject was informed before data collection started, that the study was to develop an anthropometric database which can be used to improve product design or other ergonomic consideration for cerebral palsy. The result of the study will provide guidelines for product design process