Dec 10, 2018 07:38 PM
https://aeon.co/ideas/can-a-physics-of-p...-the-crowd
EXCERPT: . . . Fundamental science and public safety demand that we develop a complete science of crowds using a range of disciplines. Today, work by social psychologists shows that crowds are influenced by the personalities of individual members; thus, crowds can embody altruistic and helpful behaviour as well as the opposite. And now we can extend crowd science further by incorporating quantitative analysis using classical and statistical physics, computational science and the theory of complex systems – the study of groups of interacting entities.
One relevant concept from complexity theory is ‘emergence’, which occurs when the interactions among the entities produce group behaviour that could not have been predicted from the properties of any individual element. For instance, randomly moving H2O molecules in liquid water suddenly link up at zero degrees Celsius to make solid ice; starlings in flight quickly form themselves into an ordered flock.
Emergent behaviour can be predicted if the interaction among the entities is known, as shown in 2014 by researchers at the University of Minnesota who determined how two people in motion interact and, from that, how a crowd moves. The researchers first considered an idea from physics, theorising that, like electrons, pedestrians avoid collision by repelling each other as they get closer. But video databases showed instead that when people see that they are about to collide, they change their paths. From this, the researchers derived an equation for what amounts to a universal force of repulsion between two people, based on time until collision, not distance.
The formula successfully reproduced the emergent real-world features of a crowd, such as forming a semicircular configuration while waiting to trickle through a narrow passage, or extemporaneously developing independent lanes as its members walk toward different exits. This makes it possible to simulate crowd behaviour to design evacuation routes, for instance. To be useful in emergencies, crowd analysis must also account for emotional contagion [...]
[...] the power of a multidisciplinary science of crowds. As the insights accumulate, they are sure to be useful in architectural design and disaster planning. Findings could, however, lead to more surveillance of crowds in public spaces, a phenomenon currently raising concerns from the American Civil Liberties Union about privacy and potential for abuse. Something is lost and something gained by reducing crowd behaviour to numbers. Comparing models to real data will provide welcome insights into crowd dynamics, but we need a sweeping understanding from psychology as well....
MORE (details): https://aeon.co/ideas/can-a-physics-of-p...-the-crowd
EXCERPT: . . . Fundamental science and public safety demand that we develop a complete science of crowds using a range of disciplines. Today, work by social psychologists shows that crowds are influenced by the personalities of individual members; thus, crowds can embody altruistic and helpful behaviour as well as the opposite. And now we can extend crowd science further by incorporating quantitative analysis using classical and statistical physics, computational science and the theory of complex systems – the study of groups of interacting entities.
One relevant concept from complexity theory is ‘emergence’, which occurs when the interactions among the entities produce group behaviour that could not have been predicted from the properties of any individual element. For instance, randomly moving H2O molecules in liquid water suddenly link up at zero degrees Celsius to make solid ice; starlings in flight quickly form themselves into an ordered flock.
Emergent behaviour can be predicted if the interaction among the entities is known, as shown in 2014 by researchers at the University of Minnesota who determined how two people in motion interact and, from that, how a crowd moves. The researchers first considered an idea from physics, theorising that, like electrons, pedestrians avoid collision by repelling each other as they get closer. But video databases showed instead that when people see that they are about to collide, they change their paths. From this, the researchers derived an equation for what amounts to a universal force of repulsion between two people, based on time until collision, not distance.
The formula successfully reproduced the emergent real-world features of a crowd, such as forming a semicircular configuration while waiting to trickle through a narrow passage, or extemporaneously developing independent lanes as its members walk toward different exits. This makes it possible to simulate crowd behaviour to design evacuation routes, for instance. To be useful in emergencies, crowd analysis must also account for emotional contagion [...]
[...] the power of a multidisciplinary science of crowds. As the insights accumulate, they are sure to be useful in architectural design and disaster planning. Findings could, however, lead to more surveillance of crowds in public spaces, a phenomenon currently raising concerns from the American Civil Liberties Union about privacy and potential for abuse. Something is lost and something gained by reducing crowd behaviour to numbers. Comparing models to real data will provide welcome insights into crowd dynamics, but we need a sweeping understanding from psychology as well....
MORE (details): https://aeon.co/ideas/can-a-physics-of-p...-the-crowd