High-level control of agent-based crowds by means of general constraints

Abstract

The use of computer-generated crowds in visual effects has grown tremendously since the warring armies of virtual ores and elves were seen in The Lord of the Rings. These crowds are generated by agent-based simulations, where each agent has the ability to reason and act for itself. This autonomy is effective at automatically producing realistic, complex group behaviour but leads to problems in controlling the crowds. Due to interaction between crowd members, the link between the behaviour of the individual and that of the whole crowd is not obvious. The control of a crowd’s behaviour is, therefore time consuming and frustrating, as manually editing the behaviour of individuals is often the only control approach available. This problem of control has not been widely addressed in crowd simulation research.