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Dynamic social formations of pedestrian groups navigating and using public transportation in a virtual city

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Abstract

Most prior crowd simulations do not have groups of people moving in a social manner. In our work, we use a two-level steering system based on two classes: group agent and pedestrian agent. By interpolating the current and desired slot positions of the group agent according to formation templates, dynamic social group formations can be achieved and can also adapt to the width of passageways using our robust and optimized ray casting technique. Based on this interpolation approach, slot-locking keeps subgroups in a group shoulder-to-shoulder regardless of the current formation assuming sufficient surrounding space exists. At times pal social gestures between adjacent members may occur. We also introduce the social FIFO queue to be used in situations such as waiting for the bus. In the subway scene, we describe a seating strategy for passengers entering the subway car and being aware of your presence. In an immersive evaluation using an Oculus DK2 head-mounted display, participants validated the realism of dynamic social group behavior for navigation and making use of public transportation.

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Acknowledgments

This crowd simulation is integrated into the city and subway scenes of PsyTech’s PHOBOS\({}^{\textregistered }\), a virtual reality platform being developed for the treatment of a wide range of phobias and anxiety disorders. It is funded by the IT R&D program of MSIP/KEIT [14-811-12-002].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. KAIST A.I. & Media Lab., Daejeon, Republic of Korea

    Francisco Rojas & Hyun S. Yang

  2. PsyTech LLC, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Fernando Tarnogol

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  1. Francisco Rojas
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  2. Fernando Tarnogol
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  3. Hyun S. Yang
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Correspondence to Francisco Rojas.

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Rojas, F., Tarnogol, F. & Yang, H.S. Dynamic social formations of pedestrian groups navigating and using public transportation in a virtual city. Vis Comput 32, 335–345 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-015-1187-7

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