Simulating pedestrians' street smarts | Science News

The best-ever simulation of pedestrians moving through a crowd relies on a new formula that encapsulates people’s ability to anticipate collisions. Read the full story at sciencenews.org: http://ow.ly/FOl78.

It's hard to predict where people at a crowded intersection will go. By calculating people’s ability to anticipate collisions, scientists have now created the best-ever simulation of how pedestrians behave. Here two groups of pedestrians cross paths perpendicularly. The sim walkers slow down as the groups get close and create lanes, just as real pedestrians do. In the second simulation, a large group converges on a narrow doorway. The sim walkers' restricted movement leads to an arch-shaped blockage near the exit, leaving the walkers to flow through in a single stream. The sim walkers could help planners control crowds and design more pedestrian-friendly public spaces.

I. Karamouzas, B. Skinner and S.J. Guy. Universal power law governing pedestrian interactions. Physical Review Letters.
Vol. 113, December 5, 2014, p. 238701. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.238701.