Mizar Luca Federici

SITUATED CELLULAR AGENTS APPROACH TO CROWD MODELING AND SIMULATION

The article describes a multi-agent approach to crowd modeling and simulation. After a brief introduction of the Situated Cellular Agents model, the guidelines to the crowd modeling approach is introduced as a way to support the communication among the different actors that are part of the simulation project team. The approach is then applied to describe a complex scenario providing a blend of competitive and cooperative behavior for pedestrian agents: an underground station. A module supporting the effective 3D visualization of simulated crowd dynamics is finally introduced, as an instrument for the communication of simulation results to decision makers and nonexperts in crowd phenomena.

Towards a methodology for situated cellular agent based crowd simulations

This paper introduces a research activity aimed at the definition of a methodology to provide a solid conceptual framework for the development of simulation systems focused on crowd dynamics and based on the Situated Cellular Agent (SCA) model. After a brief introduction of the SCA Model, the general methodological approach is described. The main steps provide the definition of the spatial abstraction of the environment, the definition of its active elements, and the specification of types of mobile agents, the related behaviours with particular attention to their movement by means of the notion of utility. A case study is also briefly described in order to show how the methodology was applied in the modelling of crowd behaviour in an underground station.

Data Collection for Modeling and Simulation: Case Study at the University of Milan-Bicocca

The investigation of crowd dynamics is a complex field of study that involves different types of knowledge and skills, and, also from the socio-psychological perspective, the definition of crowd is still controversial. We propose to investigate analytically this phenomenon focusing on pedestrian dynamics in medium-high density situations, and, in particular, on proxemic behavior of walking groups. In this work we will present several results collected during the observation of the incoming pedestrian flows to an admission test at the University of Milano-Bicocca. In particular, we collected empirical data about: levels of density and of service, group spatial arrangement (degree of alignment and cohesion), group size and composition (gender), walking speed and lane formation. The statistical analysis of video footages of the event showed that a large majority of the incoming flow was composed of groups and that groups size significantly affects walking speed. Collected data will be used for an investigative modeling work aimed at simulating the observed crowd and pedestrian dynamics.

Pedestrian and crowd dynamics simulation: testing SCA on paradigmatic cases of emerging coordination in negative interaction conditions

The paper presents a set of theoretical experiments performed to evaluate Situated Cellular Agent (SCA) approach within pedestrian dynamics research context. SCA is a modeling and simulation approach based on Multi Agent Systems principles that derives from Cellular Automata. In particular, we focus on two emerging phenomena (freezing by heating and lane formation phenomena) that have been empirically observed and already modeled by analytical particle-based models and Cellular Automata-based models.

An Innovative Scenario for Pedestrian Data Collection: The Observation of an Admission Test at the University of Milano-Bicocca

The investigation of crowd dynamics is a complex field of study that involves different types of knowledge and skills. Due to the difficulty in reaching an exhaustive definition of the notion of crowd, we propose to analytically investigate this phenomenon focusing on pedestrian dynamics in medium-high density situations, and, in particular, on proxemic behavior of walking groups. In this work we will present several results collected during the observation of the incoming pedestrian flows to an admission test at the University of Milano-Bicocca. In particular, we collected empirical data about: level of density and service, spatial arrangement, composition (size, gender) and walking speed of groups. The analysis of video footages of the event showed that unexpectedly a large majority of the incoming flow was composed of groups, and that group size significantly affects walking speed.

Visualization of discrete crowd dynamics in a 3d environment

The design of different kinds of environmental structures, at different detail levels, from the corridors or emergency exits of a building to the whole transportation system on urban or regional scale, may benefit from an envisioning of how it will perform, given specific assumptions on the usage conditions and the behaviours of the autonomous entities which will populate it There is thus a growing interest in models and technologies supporting the simulation of this kind of domains An innovative trend in supporting architects in their activities is represented by virtual environments in which alternative architectural designs can be visualized and compared by involved actors, in a collaborative decision scheme [1,2] This kind of approach could be improved by the possibility to include in the virtual environments also an envisioning of pedestrian dynamics in the related architectural structures, given the fact that human movement behaviour has deep implications on the design of effective pedestrian facilities [3].

A Proposal of an Event Ontology for Urban Crowd Profiling

The definitions of ‘‘event’’ and ‘‘crowd’’ are still representing controversial issues that have been tackled by different disciplines like Sociology, Philosophy and Computer Science. The proposed ontology of events takes advantage of results and perspectives already present in literature and in available resources, like DBpedia. Events, such as celebrations, concerts, sport matches and so on, are, in this work, defined as structured entities spatially and temporally confined, codified by a specific script, and participated by urban crowds. The integration of an ontology of ‘‘event’’ with an ontology of ‘‘crowd’’ constitutes the originality of this work. A conceptual framework has been defined, and then implemented in Protege, to create a versatile tool to profile crowds. In the paper the assumptions that underline the development of the ontology are introduced, then its implementation in Protege and its application to a case study is presented.

A SCA-Based Model for Open Crowd Aggregation

This paper proposes a SCA-based model for crowd dynamics phenomena. SCA (Situated Cellular Agents) is a modeling and simulation approach based on Multi Agent Systems principles that is characterized by the representation of an explicit spatial structure. This paper is focused on the crowd aggregation phenomenon described by Elias Canetti. This work will provide a methodology example of translation of a social theory into a SCA-based computational model.

Festivalization of the City Support: A Case Study

Supporting festivalization involves the analysis of events and crowd taking part in them. The definitions of ‘‘events‘‘ and ‘‘crowds’’ are still representing a controversial issue that has been tackled by different disciplines like Sociology, Philosophy and Computer Science. We have recently developed an ontology of events taking advantage of results and perspectives already present in literature and in available resources like DBpedia. The main innovation of our approach is the integration of an ontology of events with an ontology of crowds (developed with reference to Canetti’s theory). Starting from a conceptual framework a complete ontology has been implemented in Protege to create a versatile tool to profile crowds taking part in big events. This paper mainly focuses on a real case study of event, a rock concert, with the aim to support all the people involved (i.e. organizers, security and audience) in configuring similar situations.