Our current research lays emphasis on the extended pedestrian perception and copes with both the dynamic group behavior and the individual evaluation of situations, and hence, rather focuses on the tactical level of movement behavior. Whereas common movement models primary consider operational aspects (spatial exclusion or distance and direction related repulsion), the consideration of psychophysical concepts and intra-group coordination overcomes the idea of directed repulsion forces and derives specific movement decision with respect to the individual evaluation of situations. To provide a solid basis we analyze both data recorded at a mass event and data from a double-staged evacuation test to derive essential group dynamic behaviors and psychological related decision principles, respectively.For the data acquisition in the field, we recorded the movement behavior of the participants of the German Protestant Kirchentag at Dresden (1.-5. June 2011 with 120,000 fulltime participants and approx. 50,000 guests) and use this data as a solid base for the group constellation and behavior. As our data points out, there are significant differences in the density-speed-relation (fundamental diagram) regarding the constellation of groups. Heterogeneous crowds consists of independent pedestrians possess a homogenous density and each pedestrian has a high flexibility to change the speed and the direction of motion. The effect of clustered density (alternating local density clusters and open space) increases with the amount of groups, their mobility, and with the group size ( fig. 1). These density spots significantly change the individual speed characteristic and the corresponding movement behavior (e.g. distance keeping, collision avoidance).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.