Midori Mori

Ergonomics study of direct and indirect visibility evaluation at uncontrolled intersections based on three-dimensional computer simulation

Crossing collisions at intersections account for one-fourth of the total accidents in Japan. This type of accident could be caused by the poor visual environment at intersections, including the lack of indirect visibility provided by traffic convex mirrors. However, no available desk methods have been reported on the proper installation method for such mirrors. This paper discusses the appropriate conditions for direct and indirect visibility. These include mirror visibility simulation technology, which was developed by applying three-dimensional computer graphics software. The simulated mirror images were found to be highly consistent with actual images. The mirror visibility obtained by an optimal mirror installation was found to be desirable in both a simulation and field study. The simulation demonstrated that a slight change in the mirror plate angle greatly influenced the visible distance. In conclusion, the 3DCG simulation method was effective for examining conditions for good direct and indirect visibility at intersections.

Analysis of Evacuation Behavior in Aircraft Accident Using Evacuation Model Based on MAS

This paper evaluates the flow of passengers towards the emergency exit by using a system simulation based on a multi-agent system (MAS). To represent the behavior of panicked passengers, an internal model was introduced that reflected the changing emotional state of a passenger during an aircraft accident. In this internal model, an agent representing a panicked passenger exhibits non-adaptive behavior, that is, not following social rules regarding queuing in line at the emergency exit in the cabin. From the simulation studies, it was found that the selfish and abnormal behavior of a passenger, attributed to panic-related emotions, caused a slowdown in the cabins evacuation flow resulting in a delay in the evacuation egress time from an aircraft after an accident. By considering the simulation results from the point of view of social psychology, it was illustrated that the size of evacuation group affects performance during the evacuation.