An Agent-Based Proxemic Model for Pedestrian and Group Dynamics: Motivations and First Experiments

The simulation of pedestrian dynamics is a consolidated area of application for agent-based models: successful case studies can be found in the literature and off-the-shelf simulators are commonly employed by end-users, decision makers and consultancy companies. These models, however, generally neglect or treat in a simplistic way aspects like (i) the impact of cultural heterogeneity among individuals and (ii) the effects of the presence of groups and particular relationships among pedestrians. This work is aimed, on one hand, at introducing some fundamental anthropological considerations on which most pedestrian models are based, and in particular Edward T. Hall’s work on proxemics. On the other hand, the paper describes an agent-based model encapsulating in the pedestrian’s behavioural model effects representing both proxemics and a simplified account of influences related to the presence of groups in the crowd. The model is tested in a simple scenario to evaluate the implications of some modeling choices and the presence of groups in the simulated scenario. Results are discussed and compared to experimental observations and to data available in the literature.