Simulating crowds based on a space colonization algorithm

Abstract

This paper presents a method for crowd simulation based on a biologically motivated space colonization algorithm. This algorithm was originally introduced to model leaf venation patterns and the branching architecture of trees. It operates by simulating the competition for space between growing veins or branches. Adapted to crowd modeling, the space colonization algorithm focuses on the competition for space among moving agents. Several behaviors observed in real crowds, including collision avoidance, relationship of crowd density and speed of agents, and the formation of lanes in which people follow each other, are emergent properties of the algorithm. The proposed crowd modeling method is free-of-collision, simple to implement, robust, computationally efficient, and suited to the interactive control of simulated crowds.