Analysis of Crowd Dynamics with Laboratory Experiments

For the proper understanding and modelling of crowd dynamics, reliable empirical data is necessary for analysis and verification. Laboratory experiments give us the opportunity to selectively analyze parameters independently of undesired influences and adjust them to high densities seldom seen in field studies. The setup of the experiments, the extraction of the trajectories of the pedestrians and the analysis of the resulting data are discussed.Two strategies for the time-efficient automatic collection of accurate pedestrian trajectories from stereo recordings are presented. One strategy uses markers for detection and the other one is based on a perspective depth field. Measurement methods for quantities like density, velocity and specific flow are compared. The fundamental diagrams from trajectories for different experiments are analyzed