Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id UAA07009 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Wed, 27 Sep 2000 20:44:04 +0100 Message-ID: <B6E47FBD3879D31192AD009027AC929C9264EA@NWTH-EXCHANGE> From: Bruce Jones <BruceJ@nwths.com> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Computer Used To Study Crowd Panic Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 14:51:30 -0500 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2232.9) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
This is a capability of the STARLOGO software package which uses the
simplicity of LOGO and the sophistication of advanced computational
programming. I did not see what model was used or if they developed their
own.
Question: Is panic a short lived, virulent, memetic entity?
BJ
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wade T.Smith [SMTP:wade_smith@harvard.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 1:30 PM
> To: memetics list
> Subject: Fwd: Computer Used To Study Crowd Panic
>
>
> ---------------- Begin Forwarded Message ----------------
>
> News Article: Computer Used To Study Crowd Panic
>
> By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Science Writer
>
> Mob stampedes have killed thousands of people in recent years,
> but they are usually explained in terms of psychology. Now,
> European scientists say they can predict and prevent crowd panic
> via computer simulations using the laws of physics.
>
> The new computer model relies on distances, sizes and velocities
> instead of emotional states but produces results similar to actual
> panics, the researchers said in Thursday's issue of the journal
> Nature.
>
> "We think it works particularly well in panic situations
> because people don't think about what they should do," said Dirk
> Helbing, a professor at the Institute for Economics and Traffic at
> Dresden University of Technology.
>
> The computer models reflect the conditions of a room from which
> people are trying to escape but cannot use or see exits. The
> virtual victims appear as particles that reflect an average
> person's speed, size and desired distance from others.
>
> Under normal circumstances, a crowd exits a theater or stadium
> in an orderly and coordinated fashion because everyone is moving at
> a leisurely pace and at an adequate distance from one another, the
> researchers said.
>
> But when the speed of the individuals increases in a panic, they
> bump into each other, creating friction and violating personal
> space. As a result, almost everybody moves less quickly.
>
> Eventually, solid arch-shaped barriers of people clump around
> the exits and even fewer people can pass to safety. Victims
> collapse and are trampled, creating further obstacles for the
> others.
>
> "People want to leave faster, but the result is that they are
> leaving slower and then the tragedy begins," Helbing said. "The
> question is what can you do about that?"
>
> One solution is to build a partial barrier in front of the exit,
> the researchers said. It could absorb pressure from the crowd that
> can become strong enough to crush a person, break a brick wall or
> bend steel.
>
> "It turned out that we had no injuries," Helbing said of the
> approach.
>
> As the world becomes more crowded, such simulations will grow
> more important for architects, event planners and police.
>
> This year, eight people were killed in July at a rock festival
> in Copenhagen, and a dozen died the same month after a World Cup
> match in Zimbabwe. Ten years ago, more than 1,400 pilgrims were
> killed inside a tunnel leading to Mecca.
>
> Helbing and colleagues Illes Farkas and Tamas Vicsek found many
> causes for panic. In some cases, a crisis like a fire or a poorly
> planned obstacle can drive the hysteria.
>
> The researchers also used their simulation to devise strategies
> for surviving crowd panic. In the case of a burning theater where
> smoke obscures the exits, just acting alone or totally following
> others can be deadly, they said. The solution is to do a little of
> both.
>
> "It requires some individualism to explore the environment, to
> find the possible solutions and then, if there is someone who found
> the solution, it is good for the others to follow," Helbing said.
>
> The new computer models are especially useful because they
> consider individual actions within the group, David J. Low, a civil
> engineer at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, said in an
> accompanying commentary.
>
> Most modern buildings are designed assuming crowds flow through
> the exits like fluid through a pipe, he said.
>
> "This traditional approach assumes that the crowd is made up of
> identical, unthinking elements," he said. "A fluid particle
> cannot experience fear or pain, cannot have a preferred motion,
> cannot make decisions and cannot stumble and fall."
>
> ---
>
> On the Net: Nature magazine: <A
> HREF=http://www.nature.com>http://www.nature.com>
>
> ----------------- End Forwarded Message -----------------
>
> ===============================================================
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This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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