Patent Application
20180173828
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a computer readable recording medium, a simulation method and a simulation apparatus.
Conventionally, in a mall, airport, or the like, people flow simulation is utilized to examine a sign system plan of arrangement of signs representing various guides and guide staffs (collectively referred to as signs below).
In the people flow simulation, signs according to the sign system plan and pedestrian agents imitating pedestrians are arranged in a virtual space corresponding to the mall, airport, or the like. By simulating behaviors of the pedestrian agents based on information that is acquired (perceived) from the signs that are arranged in the virtual space, the flow of pedestrians in the sign system plan is simulated.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2000-259603
There is however a problem of inferior reproducibility of perception information by simulation in that, while behaviors of pedestrian agents are simulated directly according to the information perceived from the signs in the conventional technology, perception information deteriorates with the progress of time and behavior and the degree of deterioration differs also depending on the attribute, such as adult or child, in actual human behaviors.
For example, it is difficult with the conventional technology to reproduce a behavior that is an actual human action, such as “pacing” or “getting lost”, losing the connection between a destination and the position of a subject.
According to an aspect of an embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable recording medium has stored therein a simulation program that causes a computer to execute a process including arranging an agent in a virtual space that includes one or a plurality of places where guide information is set, the agent having perception information and behaving according to the perception information in the virtual space; updating the perception information of the agent according to guide information that is provided according to the position of the agent in the virtual space; and deteriorating the perception information, degree of the deteriorating being determined on the basis of at least any one of a behavior of the agent and an attribute of the agent.
The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention.
With reference to the drawings, a simulation program, a simulation method and a simulation apparatus according to an embodiment will be described. Components having the same functions in the embodiment are denoted with the same reference numbers and redundant descriptions will be omitted. The simulation program, the simulation method and the simulation apparatus described in the following embodiment represent an example only and do not limit the embodiments. Each of the following embodiments may be combined as appropriate as long as no inconsistency is caused.
The input unit 10 receives input information about the simulation, including spatial information 11, a sign system plan 12 and pedestrian information 13, from an input device, such as a mouse and a keyboard.
The input information storage unit 20 stores input information that is input from the input unit 10, including the spatial information 11, the sign system plan 12 and the pedestrian information 13, in a storage device, such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a HDD (Hard Disk Drive).
The spatial information 11 is information representing a structure of the virtual space of the simulation of a shopping mall, an airport, or the like. Specifically, in the spatial information 11, a cell environment of the virtual space (the area, number of floors, walls, aisles and the position of the facility, etc.,) in which the pedestrian agents in the simulation migrate and a network environment about connection of nodes (aisles and facilities) in the space are written. A user inputs the spatial information 11 about the virtual space of which simulation is to be examined to the simulation apparatus 1.
The sign system plan 12 is information representing the arrangement and content of signs representing various guides in the shopping mall, airport, or the like. Specifically, in the sign system plan 12, attributes serving as characteristics of each sign (a position, a degree of conveyance, a distance, an angle and a viewing time) and information (area information, facility information, guide information and storage difficulty) about passing to the pedestrian agent (causing the pedestrian agent to perceive) by each sign are written. The user inputs the sign system plan 12 of which simulation is to be examined to the simulation apparatus 1.
A “position” is a position in which a sign is set in the virtual space. A “degree of conveyance” is a value (for example, an evaluation value from three levels A to C). A “distance” is a value representing a distance in the virtual space enabling the pedestrian agent to perceive the sign. An “angle” is a value representing an angle enabling the pedestrian agent to perceive the sign. A “viewing time” is a value representing a time that the pedestrian agent needs to perceive the content represented by the sign.
With respect to the attributes serving as characteristics of each sign in the sign system plan 12, values that are evaluated on the basis of the size and content of each sign planned to set, etc., are input. For example, for a large sign that conveys less content (for example, implements an area guide without detailed guide of a facility), large values are set for the degree of conveyance and the distance and a small value is set for the viewing time. For a large sign that conveys much content (for example, including detailed guide of the facility), small values are set for the degree of conveyance and the distance and a large value is set for the viewing time.
In the sign system plan 12, information (area information, facility information, guide information and storage difficulty) about perception by the pedestrian agent is written with respect to each sign number that identifies a sign.
“Area information” is information about an area that is passed to the pedestrian agent (that the pedestrian agent is caused to perceive) and is, for example, restaurant, exchange, or shop. “Facility information” is information about a facility that is passed to (that the pedestrian agent is caused to perceive) and is, for example, a number representing the facility. “Guide information” is information that guides the pedestrian agent to the position of the area represented by the area information or of the facility represented by the facility information. For example, “guide information” may be information representing the orientation or route from the position of the sign toward the area or facility with a node number or an edge number in the virtual space. “Storage difficulty” is a value representing the degree of difficulty in forgetting the perceived guide information (hereinafter, also referred to as perception information) of the pedestrian agent who perceives the guide information. For example, a larger value of “storage difficulty” represents that it is difficult for the pedestrian agent to forget the perception information.
For the information about perception of each sign in the sign system plan 12, values obtained through evaluation based on the content of each sign planned to be set are input. For example, for a sign whose sign number is “1” and implementing a guide to an area (omitting a guide to a facility), given values are written for the area information, the guide information and the storage difficulty and NUL data (“-” in the example illustrated in the drawings) is written in the facility information. For a sign whose sign number is “2” and implementing a guide to not only an area but also a facility, given values are written for the area information, the facility information, the guide information and the storage difficult. As described above, the content of the guide of the sign may be categorized into a grade or a class as, for example, a sign implementing a guide to an area or a sign implementing a guide to an area and a facility.
The content of a sign implementing a guide to an area omitting a guide to a facility is more simple than that of a sign implementing a guide to an area and a guide to a facility. The content of such a simple guide is evaluated as being not forgettable to pedestrians. For this reason, a higher value is set for the storage difficulty of a sign with simple guide content. For example, a value set for the storage difficulty of a sign whose sign number is “2” and implementing a guide to not only an area but to a facility is higher than that for the storage difficulty of a sign whose sign number is “1” and implementing a guide to an area.
The pedestrian information 13 is information representing pedestrian agents. Specifically, the pedestrian information 13 is information about an occurrence probability with which a pedestrian agent occurs at an appearance point corresponding to the entrance, or the like, in the virtual space or about a type (attribute) of the pedestrian agent to occur. The types of pedestrian agents are determined by, for example, gender representing male or female and age representing, for example, child (toddler, primary school, junior high-school, or high-school child) or adult (20 to 40, 40 to 60 or over 60). The user inputs the pedestrian information 13 about pedestrians of which simulation is to be examined to the simulation apparatus 1.
A “occurrence rate” represents a rate at which each pedestrian agent occurs. A “viewing distance” and a “viewing angle” represent a distance and an angle in and at which each pedestrian agent is able to view in the virtual space. A “storage time” represents a time during which each pedestrian agent stores the information that the pedestrian agent perceives. A “set of purpose categories” lists values each representing purposes (for example, meal, shopping, etc.) of behaviors of each pedestrian agent. A “utility index (Facility 1) . . . (Facility 30)” represents, in a value, the utility of a facility with respect to each pedestrian agent.
For the content of the pedestrian information 13, values assuming pedestrians visiting the virtual space of the simulation of the mall or airport are input. For example, when there are more use by adults (20 to 40 and 40 to 60) and less use by children (toddler, primary school, junior high-school, and high-school children), the rate of occurrence of a pedestrian of a type corresponding to adult is set larger and the rate of occurrence of a pedestrian of a type corresponding to child is set smaller.
The simulation manager 30 manages a process to simulate behaviors of pedestrian agents in the virtual space, which is a process performed by the pedestrian behavior execution unit 50 on the basis of the input information (the spatial information 11, the sign system plan 12 and the pedestrian information 13) stored in the input information storage unit 20. Specifically, the simulation manager 30 reads the input information stored in the input information storage unit 20 and the results of sequentially simulating behaviors of the pedestrian agents (positional information about the pedestrian agent and the perception information of pedestrian agents) that are stored in the agent information storage unit 70 and outputs the input information and the results to the pedestrian behavior execution unit 50.
The simulation manager 30 deteriorates the perception information of a pedestrian agent on the basis of at least one of the behavior and attribute of the pedestrian agent in the simulation. For example, the simulation manager 30 limits the perception information of the pedestrian agent according to the progress of the simulation by the pedestrian behavior execution unit 50 and outputs the limited perception information to the pedestrian behavior execution unit 50 (details will be described below). Accordingly, the pedestrian behavior execution unit 50 simulates behaviors of the pedestrian agent on the basis of the perception information that is deteriorated by the simulation manager 30.
The simulation manager 30 then outputs, to the simulation result output unit 60, the results of sequential simulations of the behaviors of the pedestrian agent that are performed by the pedestrian behavior execution unit 50 (the positional information about the pedestrian agent and the perception information of the pedestrian agent).
The sign system change unit 40 changes the sign system plan 12 that is stored in the input information storage unit 20 according to an operation instruction that is received from a user on an input device such as, for example, a mouse and a keyboard. Accordingly, the user is able to change the sign system plan 12 properly.
The pedestrian behavior execution unit 50 uses the input information (the spatial information 11, the sign system plan 12 and the pedestrian information 13) as an initial condition and sequentially simulates behaviors of the pedestrian agents. Specifically, the pedestrian behavior execution unit 50 simulates a behavior of a pedestrian agent at the following time on the basis of the result of simulating the behavior of the pedestrian agent until the previous time (the positional information about the pedestrian agent and the perception information of the pedestrian agent). The pedestrian behavior execution unit 50 outputs the results of sequential simulations to the simulation manager 30.
The simulation result output unit 60 stores the results of sequentially simulating behaviors of the pedestrian agent (the positional information about the pedestrian agent and the perception information of the pedestrian agent) in the agent information storage unit 70. The simulation result output unit 60 outputs the simulation results stored in the agent information storage unit 70 by display on the displayed device or printing to a printing device. As for the output of the simulation results, the results of sequential simulations may be output sequentially. The final tally of the simulations over a given time may be output.
The agent information storage unit 70 stores the simulation results, such as information about the pedestrian agent that is the results of the sequential simulations (the positional information and perception information), in a storage device, such as a RAM, HDD, or the like.
Details of operations of the simulation apparatus 1 will be described.
As illustrated in
The simulation manager 30 then sets an initial value (Step=0) of the number of steps corresponding to the time at which the simulation starts (S3). Thereafter, when repeating the process from S4 to S10, the simulation manager 30 causes the time of the simulation to progress by incrementing the step that is set. Accordingly, in the process from S4 to S10, the simulation manager 30 causes the pedestrian behavior execution unit 50 to execute a simulation according to the time that progresses according to the steps. Note that any time width of the simulation progressing according to the increment of the step may be set and, for example, the user sets a time width from few seconds to few tens of seconds in advance.
The simulation manager 30 then generates a pedestrian agent at the appearance point P1 on the basis of the occurrence probability and the occurrence rate of each pedestrian type in the pedestrian information 13 (S4). Specifically, on the basis of the generated random number, the simulation manager 30 verifies whether to generate a pedestrian agent according to the occurrence probability and the occurrence rate, which are set. On the basis of the verifying result, the simulation manager 30 generates a pedestrian agent verified as being to occur. The simulation manager 30 allocates identification information, such as an ID (identification data), to each generated pedestrian agent and stores the positon of the pedestrian agent and the perception information of the pedestrian agent in the agent information storage unit 70.
The simulation manager 30 then performs an updating process of reading the perception information of each agent A that is generated in the virtual space P from the agent information storage unit 70 and updating the perception information (S5).
As illustrated in
The simulation manager 30 then determines whether the remaining storage time of the acquired guide information is 0 (S21). When the remaining storage time is 0 (YES at S21), the simulation manager 30 deletes the guide information for which the remaining storage time is 0 from the perception information (S23) and proceeds with the process to S24. When the remaining storage time is not 0 (NO at S21), the simulation manager 30 proceeds with the process to S24 without deleting the guide information from the perception information.
Accordingly, during the time when the remaining storage time is not reduced to 0, the perceived guide information is used in the simulation of the agent A. When the remaining storage time is reduced to 0 as the time of the simulation progresses, the perceived guide information is deleted and the use of the perceived guide information to the simulation is limited.
In the embodiment, deleting the perceived guide information (perception information) deteriorates the initial perception information; however, deterioration of the perception information may be realized with a method other than deletion. For example, reading the perception information may be limited to realize deterioration of the perception information. Deleting the perception information may be deleting all the information or deleting part of the information. When part of the information is deleted, the amount of information to be deleted may be increased as the remaining time approaches 0.
At S24, the simulation manager 30 determines whether the agent A acquires (perceives) the guide information from the sign P3 on the basis of the position of the agent A in the virtual space A. Specifically, the simulation manager 30 determines whether the agent A acquires the guide information from the sign P3 according to whether the positon of the agent A is within the reach area H of the sign P3 that is set in the virtual space P.
When the agent A acquires the guide information from the sign P3 (YES at S24), the simulation manager 30 determines that the remaining storage time of the acquired guide information=(the storage difficulty of the sign P3)*(the storage time of the agent A). The simulation manager 30 then adds the remaining time and the guide information to the perception information of the agent A (S25).
As described above, at S25, when the agent A perceives the guide information, the simulation manager 30 sets the remaining storage time as the initial value of deterioration of the guide information. For example, for the guide information whose storage difficulty set for the sign P3 is high and thus that is forgettable, the value of the remaining storage time set larger. For the agent A whose storage time is long and thus who remembers the perceived guide information for a long time, the value of the remaining storage time is set larger. The remaining storage time may be set on the basis of both or any one of the storage difficulty of the sign P3 and the storage time of the agent A.
The above-described perception information updating process that is in accordance with the progress of the step (the progress of time of the simulation) is exemplified; however, what the process is in accordance with is not limited to the time as long as the process is in accordance with the progress of the simulation. For example, the perception information may be deteriorated on the basis of the progress of the behavior of the agent A, such as the number of steps of the agent A or the number of times the agent A changes the direction. For example, the number of steps of the agent A in accordance with the progress of the simulation and the number of times the direction is changed may be counted as the remaining storage time is counted and, when the counted values are equal to or larger than given thresholds, the perceived guide information may be deleted. As described above, deteriorating the perception information on the basis of not only the progress of time of the simulation but also the progress of the behavior of the agent A enables reproduction of the perception information according to the behavior of the agent A.
Assume that the agent A acquires guide information corresponding to a sign number 5 at the timing at which step=3. In the perception information I of the agent A, guide information corresponding to the sign number 5 is stored together with the remaining time of 10. As there is a progress by two steps, the remaining storage time is 3 for the guide information corresponding to the sign number 2. As, at the timing at which step=7, the remaining time is 0 for the guide information corresponding to the sign number 2, the guide information is deleted.
As illustrated in
When a purpose category is already selected and the objective category is not NULL (NO at S30), the simulation manager 30 proceeds with the process to S32 while keeping the objective category selected.
The simulation manager 30 then determines whether the destination area of the agent A is NULL, that is, whether an area corresponding to the selected category among the set of purpose categories is already selected (S32).
When no destination area is selected (YES at S32), the simulation manager 30 determines whether area information about the area corresponding to the category selected from among the set of purpose categories (information about the guide to the area) is obtained (perceived) at this step (S33). Specifically, the simulation manager 30 refers to the perception information I at this step and determines whether the guide information about the aimed area corresponding to the selected category is contained in the perception information I.
When the area information (guide information) about the destination area of the agent A is obtained (perceived) (YES at S33), the simulation manager 30 selects the area whose corresponding area information is obtained (S34). Accordingly, for the agent A, a behavior for the area whose corresponding guide information is perceived is determined. When a destination area is selected (NO at S32) and when the agent A does not perceive the guide information about the destination area of the agent A (NO at S33), the simulation manager 30 skips the process at S34 and proceeds with the process to S35.
The simulation manager 30 determines whether the current position of the agent A is an aimed area that is already selected from among the set of purpose categories (S35). When the current position is the aimed area (YES at S35), the simulation manager 30 determines whether the facility information (information about the guide to the facility) is obtained (perceived) (S36). Specifically, the simulation manager 30 refers to the perception information I at this step and determines whether the guide information about the facility in the aimed area that is the current position is contained in the perception information I.
When the agent A obtains (perceives) the information about the guide to the facility (YES at S36), the simulation manager 30 performs narrowing-down from an evoked set to a selected set (S37). Specifically, the simulation manager 30 narrows down options from the facilities (the evoked set) perceived by the agent A to a selected set according to the purpose of the agent A or the situation. For example, the simulation manager 30 performs the narrowing-down to the selected set by cutting off a facility for which the time to the end of the use of the facility exceeds a given threshold among the evoked set. For example, the simulation manager 30 performs the narrowing down to facilities for which (an estimated time taken to move to the facility)+(wait time)+(use time)<the threshold.
The simulation manager 30 then determines whether the selected set is an empty set (S38) and, when the selected set is not an empty set (NO at S38), the simulation manager 30 selects a facility from among the selected set (S39). Furthermore, when the selected set is an empty set (YES at S38), the simulation manager 30 empties the facility aimed by the agent A (S40).
A known method, such as a discrete choice model, is used to select a facility from among the selected set. For example, the probability that a facility i is selected is calculated by P(i)=expU(i)/ΣexpU(n) (where n is a facility that is an element of the selected set) and a higher value is selected. Note that U(i)=(the utility index of the facility i)+β1·(the estimated time taken to move to the facility i)+β2·(the wait time at the facility i), where β1 and β2 are weighting values that are set in advance.
When the perception information I that each agent A perceives is deteriorated or no destination area is determined, a surrounding waypoint is chosen randomly and calculates a walk (a direction and an amount of walk) toward the chosen waypoint is calculated. Accordingly, it is possible to reproduce a behavior that is an actual human action, such as “pacing” or “getting lost”, losing the connection between a destination and the position of a subject.
The simulation result output unit 60 draws the virtual space P and each agent A in the virtual space P on the screen of the display device on the basis of the simulation results that are stored in the agent information storage unit 70 (S8).
For example, the agent A in the case where perception information I is deteriorated or in the state where no destination area is determined is described as being in migration where the agent A takes an action, such as “pacing” or “getting lost”. As for the agent A reaching the aimed facility P2 is described as being waiting. The agent A who perceives the area information (guide information) about the goal area and is moving is drawn as being searching. Accordingly, the user is able to recognize the state of each agent A.
The simulation manager 30 determines whether the process to the last step (the time to end the simulation), which is determined in advance, ends (S9). When the process does not end (NO at S9), the simulation manager 30 increments the number of steps (S10) and returns the process to S4.
When the process ends (YES at S9), the simulation result output unit 60 outputs a final tally obtained by tallying up the simulation results in the agent information storage unit 70 to, for example, the screen of the display device (S11). Accordingly, the user is able to recognize the final tally of the simulations easily.
As illustrated in
A case C3 in
As illustrated in
A case C5 in
As described above, the simulation apparatus 1 performs a process of arranging, in the virtual space P in which guide information is set, agents A each of which has perception information I and behaves in the virtual space P according to the perception information I. The simulation apparatus 1 performs a process of updating the perception information I of the agent according to the guide information that is provided according to the position of the agent A. The simulation apparatus 1 performs a process of deteriorating the perception information I on the basis of at least one of the behavior and the attribute of the agent A. For this reason, the simulation apparatus 1 is able to reproduce a behavior that is an actual human action, such as “pacing” or “getting lost”, losing the connection between a destination and the position of a subject and is able to perform a people flow simulation enabling reproduction of deterioration of the perception information in human behaviors.
All or a given part of various process functions implemented by the simulation apparatus 1 may be implemented on a CPU (or a microcomputer, such as a MPU or a MCU (Micro Controller Unit)). Needless to say, all or a given part of the various process functions may be implemented on a program that is analyzed and executed by a CPU (or a microcomputer, such as a MPU or a MCU (Micro Controller Unit)) or hardware using a wired logic.
It is possible to implement the various processes described in the above-described embodiment by executing a program that is prepared in advance with a computer. An exemplary computer (hardware) that executes a program with the same functions as those of the above-described embodiment will be described below.
As illustrated in
In the hard disk device 109, a program 111 for executing the various processes described in the above-described embodiment is stored. In the hard disk device 109, various types of data 112 that the program 111 refers to are stored. The input device 102, for example, receives an input of operation information from the operator of the simulation apparatus 1. The monitor 103 displays various screens that the operator operates. For example, a printing device, etc., is connected to the interface device 106. The communication device 107 is connected to a communication network, such as a LAN (Local Area Network) and communicates various types of information with an external device via the communication network.
The CPU 101 reads the program 111 that is stored in the hard disk device 109, loads the program 111 into the RAM 108, and executes the program 111 to perform various processes. The program 111 need not be stored in the hard disk device 109. For example, the simulation apparatus 1 may read and execute the program 111 that is stored in a storage medium readable by the simulation apparatus 1. The storage medium readable by the simulation apparatus 1 corresponds to, for example, a portable recording medium, such as a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a semiconductor memory, such as a flash memory, a hard disk drive, etc. The program may be stored in a device connected to, a public line, the Internet, a LAN, or the like and the simulation apparatus 1 may read the program the device and execute the program.
All examples and conditional language provided herein are intended for the pedagogical purposes of aiding the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to further the art, and are not to be construed as limitations to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. Although one or more embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to perform people flow simulation enabling reproduction of deterioration of perception information in human behaviors.
This application is a continuation application of International Application PCT/JP2015/072976, filed on Aug. 14, 2015, and designating the U.S., the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2015/072976 | Aug 2015 | US |
| Child | 15895330 | US |
