Human crowds are ubiquitous in the real world, making their simulation a necessity for realistic interactive environments. We present a real-time crowd model based on continuum dynamics. In our model, a dynamic potential field simultaneously integrates global navigation with moving obstacles, such as other people, efficiently solving for the motion of large crowds without the need for explicit collision avoidance. Simulations created with our system run at interactive rates, demonstrate smooth flow under a variety of conditions, and naturally exhibit emergent phenomena that have been observed in real crowds.
(Faculty: Popović)