Virtual reality crowd simulation: effects of agent density on user experience and behaviour

Abstract

Agent-based crowd simulations are used for modelling building and space usage, allowing designers to explore hypothetical real-world scenarios, including extraordinary events such as evacuations. Existing work which engages virtual reality (VR) as a platform for crowd simulations has been primarily focussed on the validation of simulation models through observation; the use of interactions such as gaze to enhance a sense of immersion; or studies of proxemics. In this work, we extend previous studies of proxemics and examine the effects of varying crowd density on user experience and behaviour. We have created a simulation in which participants walk freely and perform a routine manual task, whilst interacting with agents controlled by a typical social force simulation model. We examine and report the effects of crowd density on both affective state and behaviour. Our results show a significant increase in negative affect with density, measured using a self-report scale. We further show significant differences in some aspects of user behaviours, using video analysis, and discuss how our results relate to VR simulation design for mixed human-agent scenarios.

Pedestrian Models for Autonomous Driving Part II: High-Level Models of Human Behavior

“…The theory of proxemics has been well studied in psychology and now being more and more used for VR experiments [151] [56] and computer scientists are just beginning to apply it to make more detailed models of the utility of pedestrian's personal space than simply collisions and non-collisions. In general, microscopic models are preferred to macroscopic models, in particular the social force model is very popular for pedestrian interaction modelling, while macroscopic models are more suited for crowd behaviour modeling, especially in the specialised domain of emergency evacuation modeling.…”

Eye-Gaze Activity in Crowds: Impact of Virtual Reality and Density

“…Using a critical threshold of density to guide the decision to avoid a group of walkers, they proposed an adaptation of RVO model [62] to take into account the presence of groups in a crowd simulation. Finally, in a VR experiment, Dickinson et al recently reported that high crowd density has a negative influence on the affective state of participants, where the task was perceived as uncomfortable [16]. Authors also reported more direction changes and stops in the case of high density levels.…”

Evaluating Human Movement Coordination During Immersive Walking in a Virtual Crowd

“…The current study is an extension of previous studies that have examined human movement coordination in virtual environments [2,[18][19][20]62,63] and human-virtual-crowd interactions [59,61,[64][65][66]. However, less attention has been paid to understanding how humans coordinate their movement when surrounded by a crowd.…”

“…Among other human-crowd interaction studies, a virtual reality framework examining the human-virtual-crowd interaction and ways to improve the level of realism of simulation algorithms was developed by Olivier et al [58]. Dickinson et al [59] studied the effects of crowd density across three experimental conditions on the affective states and behaviors of participants. The results showed a significant increase in negative effects when interacting with a high-density crowd, measured using self-reported ratings.…”