Crowd simulation is the process of simulating the movement (or dynamics) of a large number of entities or characters.[1] It is commonly used to create virtual scenes for visual media like films and video games, and is also used in crisis training,[2] architecture and urban planning,[3] and evacuation simulation.[4]
Crowd simulation may focus on aspects that target different applications. For realistic and fast rendering of a crowd for visual media or virtual cinematography, reduction of the complexity of the 3D scene and image-based rendering are used,[5] while variations (changes) in appearance help present a realistic population.[6][7]
In games and applications intended to replicate real-life human crowd movement, like in evacuation simulations, simulated agents may need to navigate towards a goal, avoid collisions, and exhibit other human-like behavior. Many crowd steering algorithms have been developed to lead simulated crowds to their goals realistically. Some more general systems are researched that can support different kinds of agents (like cars and pedestrians),[8] different levels of abstraction (like individual and continuum),[9] agents interacting with smart objects,[10] and more complex physical and social dynamics.[11]
^Gwynne, S.; Galea, E.R.; Owen, M.; Lawrence, P.J.; Filippidis, L. (1999). "A review of the methodologies used in the computer simulation of evacuation from the built environment". Building and Environment. 34 (6): 741–9. Bibcode:1999BuEnv..34..741G. doi:10.1016/S0360-1323(98)00057-2.
^http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1272705 Pelechano, N. and Allbeck, J. M. and Badler, N. I. Controlling individual agents in high-density crowd simulation. In Proceedings of the 2007 ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation. ISBN978-1-59593-624-0