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Hajj Pilgrimage Safety Challenges Crowd Simulator Technology
agent elevator writes: In 2010, Saudi Arabia hosted an international design competition aimed at safely accommodating more pilgrims at Mecca's Grand Mosque. One of the participants told IEEE Spectrum that the crowd densities there (6 people per square meter) bogged down off-the-shelf software so badly that simulation run times were about 10 to 20 times slower than real time crowd movement. Nevertheless, he found some workarounds that gave designers a plan to double the Grand Mosque's peak visitor rate from 40,000 to 102,000 people per hour. Last week's stampede took place well away from the mosque, but signals sent to pilgrims telling them when to speed up or slow down could help prevent such a tragedy, the crowd simulation expert said.
Other engineers are turning to fuzzy logic as way to predict how crowds will react in a panic.
If people didn't have religion, they'd find some other excuse to bash each other's heads in. Do you really think any of those "leader" gives half a shit about Allah, God or some other sky daddy?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I can think of two major acts of genocide ordered by self professed "God Fearing Christians" in the past 100 years. At least one bombing comes to mind as well as a few mass shootings.
Only one? Take a look at "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland and surroundings from about 1968 to 1998. (And related events in the centuries leading up to that.) Sure, there was a large political component too ... as there is in the Middle East. I'd wager that anyone old enough to remember those times was a lot more worried about IRA bombs then than Islamic ones today (and with good reason).
-- Alastair
The better solution is to give people enough space to move freely.
Of course if you can solve the space problem it no longer exists, but unless you can pull a tardis out of your arse there are many situations where "more space" is simply not an option. The religious festival in Mecca is a prime example, in particular, the part where the pilgrim is required to walk around (what looks like) a huge stone box three times and throw pebbles at the devil (the stone box). The 'box' is already in the middle of large open area, but there are only so many people who can stand within pebble throwing distance at one time.
When too many people in one place have too much freedom of movement, there is nothing to dampen that movement should everyone move in the same direction for some reason (eg: band appears on stage, some idiot drops some firecrackers, rubbish bin catches fire, etc) Correctly placed barriers can significantly REDUCE the chance of "crowd crush" and stampedes, it's a common and well-understood technique that is often used to control "mosh pits" at large concerts and similar events.
The basic principle is no different to putting baffles in a petrol tanker truck to stop it sloshing about uncontrollably and derailing the truck, a crowd has a "pressure" that is related to it's density, volume, and overall direction of motion. A larger space can build up much higher "spot" pressures than a small space with the same density and motion. As I understand the problem in TFA, the sheer number of people makes it impossible/expensive to simulate the effect of crowd control measures in real time. However the basic principles of "crowd baffles" are well understood and have significantly reduced the likelihood of tragedy over the last few decades that they have been in use. If you find that hard to believe, try obtaining public liability insurance for a large event without having a credible crowd control plan.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
In many ways it is an abrogation of personal responsibility, and a key problem with many religions, but a part of human nature it would seem.
Silence is a state of mime.