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Researchers at the IIT Madras have developed an algorithm that can help with the management of enormous, dense crowds using minimal manpower, and prevent deadly stampedes in massive public gatherings.
"These kinds of stampedes have clear patterns in how they start. We wanted to understand those early signs and figure out how you place the police people, or what we call ''game-changers'', who then direct the crowd in a way that would prevent a stampede," professor Panchagnula said.
The Kumbh Mela, a Hindu pilgrimage at Prayagraj (Allahabad), is the world's largest religious gathering. Crores and crores of people taking a dip in the river Ganga on some days, making the event a hot spot for possible mishaps that could put thousands at risk.
For reference, one crore is also equivalent to 100 lakhs, where one lakh is equal to one hundred thousand. So one crore is 10,000,000.
See also Sparse game changers restore collective motion in panicked human crowds at arXive.
(Score: 2, Informative) by el-ingenioso-hidalgo-don-miguel-de- on Friday February 22 2019, @04:50PM (4 children)
When we got out of the one I saw in Oakland, California, the turnstiles to the nearby Bay Area Rapid Transit light rail were open - so my ride back to Fremont was free as in beer.
One cannot always foresee dangerous situations.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday February 22 2019, @05:05PM (3 children)
I've attended few concerts. Those I've attended have been in smaller venues. I won't be surrounded by ten thousand crazies, waiting for god-knows-what to happen. Such as a pyrotechnics thingy going haywire.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 22 2019, @06:04PM (2 children)
aaaaaand you live in a small village where there's no chance of highway traffic being redirected during an emergency, right? so, c'mon, flow control in the twin-towers, mecca, stadiums, supermarkets, town-centers are hugely important subjects. its about quality of life as much as its about the quality simply staying alive. .. but living on your isolated hill you couldn't have known, so, try reading the article!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday February 22 2019, @06:13PM (1 child)
LOL, no, I'm not the country hick who has never been anywhere. Nice try though.
If/when I am forced by circumstances to be where there is a crowd, I'm the guy who hangs around the edges of the crowd, watching the roofs, listening for sirens, watching for smoke. And, just like driving, especially riding a motorcycle, I always have a way out. You never let yourself get boxed in. Of course, I've never claimed to be the life of the party.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 22 2019, @06:56PM
Same here, always have a way out which has already avoided being sideswiped by stupid drivers doing 3-lane changes abruptly.