The virtual victims appear as particles that reflect an average person's speed, size and desired distance from others. The researchers said that under normal circumstances, a crowd exits a theater or stadium in an orderly and coordinated fashion because everyone is moving at a leisurely pace and at an adequate distance from one another. But when the individual speed increases because of panic, they bump into each other, thus creating frictions and violating personal space. This results in an actual decrease in individual speed. Eventually, solid, half-circled barriers of people clump around the exits and even fewer people can pass to safety.
Victims collapse and are trampled which creates more obstacles for the others.
One solution the researchers are suggesting is to build a partial barrier in front of the exit. It could absorb pressure from the crowd that can become strong enough to crush a person, break a brick wall or bend steel. The world's population is growing at lightning-fast speeds and such simulations will grow more important for architects, event planners and police. Ten years ago, more than 1,400 pilgrims were killed inside a tunnel leading to Mecca. Illes Farkas and Tamas Vicsek found many causes for panic in crowd situations - such as a crisis like a fire or a poorly planned obstacle.