An Event-Based Model to Simulate Human Behaviour in Built Environments

During a design process, few methods allow designers to evaluate if and how the future building will match and affect its intended use and its intended users. Computer simulation techniques have focused on prediction of human behavior in built environments in order to overcome this lack; nevertheless, their applications are limited to representation of specifi c behavioral aspects while a reliable representation of building response to actual use is still missing. Based on current developments in the video game industry, the research described here aims to establish a new approach to simulating human behavior in buildings, centered on a clear definition of use scenarios as specific structures of active entities called Events. They provide information about occurrences happening during the use process in terms of Actors involved, Activities performed and Space where the event takes place. Equipped with AI engines, events control and coordinate the actors’ behavior during the simulation, representing their interaction, cooperation and collaboration.