Data-driven Crowd Modeling Techniques: A Survey

Data-driven crowd modeling has now become a popular and effective approach for generating realistic crowd simulation and has been applied to a range of applications, such as anomaly detection and game design. In the past decades, a number of data-driven crowd modeling techniques have been proposed, providing many options for people to generate virtual crowd simulation. This article provides a comprehensive survey of these state-of-the-art data-driven modeling techniques. We first describe the commonly used datasets for crowd modeling. Then, we categorize and discuss the state-of-the-art data-driven crowd modeling methods. After that, data-driven crowd model validation techniques are discussed. Finally, six promising future research topics of data-driven crowd modeling are discussed.

Development of an Insecticide-Free Trapping Bednet to Control Mosquitoes and Manage Resistance in Malaria Vector Control: A New Way of Thinking

Mosquito-borne malaria kills 429,000 people each year with the problem being acute in sub-Saharan Africa. The successes gained with long-lasting pyrethroid-treated bednets are now in jeopardy because of wide-spread, pyrethroid resistance in mosquitoes. Using crowd modeling theory normalized for standard bednet architecture, we were able to design an attract–trap–kill technology for mosquitoes that does not require insecticides. Using three-dimensional polyester knitting and heat fixation, trap funnels were developed with high capture efficacy with no egression under worst-case laboratory conditions. Field testing in Africa in WHO huts with Gen1-3 T (trap)-Nets validated our model, and as predicted, Gen3 had the highest efficacy with a 4.3-fold greater trap–kill rate with no deterrence or repellency compared to Permanet 2.0, the most common bednet in Africa. A T-Net population model was developed based on field data to predict community-level mosquito control compared to a pyrethroid bednet. This model showed the Gen3 non-insecticidal T-Net under field conditions in Africa against pyrethroid resistant mosquitoes was 12.7-fold more efficacious than single chemical, pyrethroid-treated nets.

Crowd Modeling and Simulation for Safer Building Design

Crowd modeling and simulation are very important in the investigation and study of the dynamics of a crowd. They can be used not only to understand the behavior of a crowd in different environments, but also in risk assessment of spaces and in designing spaces that are safer for crowds, especially during emergency evacuations. This paper provides an overview of the use of the crowd simulation model for three main purposes; (1) as a modeling tool to simulate behavior of a crowd in different environments, (2) as a risk assessment tool to assess the risk posed in the environment, and (3) as an optimization tool to optimize the design of a building or space so as to ensure safer crowd movement and evacuation. Result shows that a simulation using the magnetic force model with a pathfinding feature provides a realistic crowd simulation and the use of ABC optimization can reduce evacuation time and improve evacuation comfort. This paper is expected to provide readers with a clearer idea on how crowd models are used in ensuring safer building planning and design.

Review of Virtual Traffic Simulation and Its Applications

The increasing number of vehicles in cities brings new challenges to urban traffic management. Analyzing and modeling traffic is of great practical significance to urban intelligent traffic management. In this paper, the existing traffic simulation research is reviewed and summarized. Firstly, the crowd modeling and crowd animation are analyzed by referring to the idea of crowd simulation. Secondly, it compares and analyzes various existing car following technologies, and points out that animated traffic simulation is a hotspot in traffic simulation research. And then the concept of affective computing is integrated into the traffic simulation, considering the impacts of drivers’ emotion on vehicle driving and it is pointed out that the emotion-driven traffic flow is more authentic. Finally, combined with the status quo, the existing research drawbacks are analyzed, and the direction of future traffic simulation is pointed out.

Insecticide-free trapping bed-net can mitigate insecticide resistance threat in malaria vector control strategies

Mosquito-borne malaria kills 429,000 people each year with the problem acute in sub-Saharan Africa. The successes gained with long-lasting pyrethroid treated bed-nets is now in jeopardy because of wide-spread, pyrethroid-resistance in mosquitoes. Using crowd modeling theory normalized for standard bed-net architecture, we were able to design an attract-trap-kill mechanism for mosquitoes that does not require insecticides. Using three-dimensional polyester knitting and heat fixation, trap funnels were developed with high capture efficacy, no egression under worst-case laboratory conditions, and greater durability than current bed-nets sold. Field testing in Africa in WHO huts with Gen1-3 T (trap)-Nets validated our model, and as predicted, Gen3 had the highest efficacy with a 4.3-fold greater trap-kill rate with no deterrence or repellency compared to Permanet 2.0, the most common bed-net in Africa. A T-Net population model was developed based on field data to predict community level mosquito control compared to a pyrethroid bed-net. This model showed the Gen3 T-Net under field conditions in Africa against pyrethroid resistant mosquitoes was 12.7-fold more efficacious than single chemical, pyrethroid treated nets, demonstrating significantly greater mosquito control using bed-nets without insecticides.

Adaptive Kinetic Architecture and Collective Behavior: A Dynamic Analysis for Emergency Evacuation

Adaptive kinetic architecture has emerged from a need for innovative designs that adapt to the environment and changing needs of the occupants. Architectural design and modes of egress are critical in an emergency. Flocking describes a certain collective behavior where agents are brought together in groups and move as a cohesive unit from place to place. Collective behavior may be observed in microscopic as well as macroscopic environments. Crowd modeling incorporates the study of human behavior, mathematical modeling, and molecular or fluid dynamics. The simulation of agents and their movement in the built environment is beneficial for design professionals, scientists, and engineers. Human behavior in panic situations is notably similar to fluids and molecules. The objective of this research was to evaluate the movement of agents in buildings using discrete dynamic simulation. We used a novel discrete molecular dynamics technique to simulate the evacuation of agents in panic situations. Various adaptive geometric configurations were analyzed for improved crowd flow. Kinetic walls were modeled in order to evaluate design optimization as it relates to rates of egression. This research proposes the use of kinetic walls to improve safety and efficiency during an emergency evacuation. Adaptive geometric configurations show improvements over the conventional design framework.

Fear in Humans: A Glimpse into the Crowd-Modeling Perspective

There have been a number of high-profile incidents in recent years in which appropriate evacuation has been necessary due to the extreme nature of the incident (e.g., terrorist attacks). Evacuation under extreme situations causes specific behavioral responses and understanding these can significantly affect the efficacy of an evacuation, potentially saving lives. This paper offers a view of the current understanding of this area of research by performing a literature review into the required areas (sociological, psychological and computer modeling). It finds that although there has been significant progress in sociological models of human behavior, there is a lack of appropriate software models for extreme emergencies that can accurately model states of fear. This point is independently established in interviews with key stakeholders in the area of human behavior and emergencies. The interviewees identify that a better model is required and provide their desired areas of progress, specifically that more data is required to develop new theories and calibrate software models.