High Fidelity Visual Representation of Crowds

Today’s contemporary operating environment is filled with individuals and crowds that have become a tactical asset to the enemy. When confronted by crowds, soldiers face the ambiguity of not knowing who is friend or foe and likely don’t possess the requisite cross-cultural communication skills to adequately respond to the rapidly changing threat. Poor choices result in escalation of hostility threatening lives and the mission. Learning appropriate skills to deal with individual and group behaviors is an imperative; and a variety of game-based technologies show promise to close the training gap. Forterra and Charles River Associates propose to research game technologies and crowd modeling approaches that can be integrated to produce an appropriate virtual training system. We propose to analyze the behaviors of crowds to understand their dynamics then to look at available cognitive modeling architectures. We’ll look at several game based platforms to find an appropriate match to support virtual training with large numbers of avatars in an asymmetric warfare environment. A feasibility demonstration is proposed as a culminating event. Emphasis will be placed on solutions than can be commercialized to support similar training needs in combat medicine and emergency preparedness.