CODE: Crowd‐optimized design of environments. (22nd March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Haworth, Brandon; Usman, Muhammad; Berseth, Glen; Khayatkhoei, Mahyar; Kapadia, Mubbasir; Faloutsos, Petros
• Is Part Of: Computer animation and virtual worlds. Volume 28:Number 6(2017)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2017-03-22
• Subjects: architectural optimization -- crowd simulation -- user‐in‐the‐loop design; Computer animation -- Periodicals; Visualization -- Periodicals; 006.6
• DOI: 10.1002/cav.1749
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1546-4261

Abstract

Abstract: We present crowd‐optimized design of environments (CODE ): a "crowd‐aware" computational tool for designing environments (e.g., building floor plans). Our system analyses the impact of newly added environment elements (e.g., pillars or doorways) on the resulting crowd flow, using current‐generation crowd simulators. The results of the simulation are used to provide feedback to the designer in terms of aggregate statistics and heat maps. Additionally, our system is able to "automatically" optimize the placement of environment elements to maximize crowd flow in egress scenarios, while satisfying constraints that are imposed by the designer. UsingCODE, architects and environment designers can iteratively refine upon their original design to quickly accommodate the dynamic properties of crowd simulations in an interactive fashion.CODE is modular and flexible so that designers may build environments, select from different crowd simulators, and specify varying crowd configurations. Abstract : CODE: a crowd‐aware computational design tool for designing environment building layouts that integrates crowd simulation, analysis, and environment optimization. CODE has potential as an enabling technology for practitioners that are involved with the design and layout of buildings, such as architects, fire marshals, etc. Our two‐pillar placement study suggests that as design decisions become more complex, tools such as CODE provide significant design performance improvements over intuitive designs.