Meeting Abstract
When considering the collective behavior of large groups, such as human crowds in physical or cyber spaces, schools of fish, large flocks of birds, etc., a natural question to consider is what it would take to change the direction of motion of the group. We will discuss simulations and initial experiments with Naval Academy midshipmen to test whether “informed” leaders, seeded within the group with an unannounced but coordinated agenda, can adequately alter the motions of the group. We will consider both the number and physical location of the informed leaders (spread throughout, or at the periphery) within the crowd. Testing with live midshipmen is, by necessity, limited to small numbers, so we will also use crowd simulations to explore the scaling effect of crowd size as well as the effect of a calm versus agitated state. We will also consider the relevance of such results to public safety, civil applications, and cases where it is desired to alter or redirect a swarm or flock.
