A Vision-Driven Model Based on Cognitive Heuristics for Simulating Subgroup Behaviors During Evacuation

Due to the universal existence of human subgroups in reality, an increasing number of studies have incorporated them into the modeling process of crowd evacuation. However, such models seldom explain subgroup behaviors from the aspect of what individuals see and how they respond to visual input. Here, we propose a vision-driven model based on cognitive heuristics, in which the mechanisms of avoidance with the environment and attraction to other members within the field of view are explicitly clarified. Numerical simulations demonstrate that various spatial characteristics of subgroup members can be effectively represented by this model, and both the intensity and heterogeneity of spatial cohesion have significant impacts on subgroup evacuation. By comparing with an empirical study, the reproducibility of our model has been validated in terms of the temporal and spatial dimensions. This model produces more natural and realistic subgroup behaviors in multiple interaction contexts than existing models, and also quantitatively exhibits the superiority in reproduction effects. Overall, this work provides an interpretable mathematical framework for modeling subgroups from the perspective of visual perception.