Simulating human behavior in not-yet built environments by means of event-based narratives

Abstract

Current Computer-Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) systems fail to represent buildings in-use before their realization. This failure prevents testing the extent to which a proposed setting supports the activities of its intended users. We present a novel approach to human behavior simulation based on a thorough representation of end-user activities by means of events -- computational constructs that simulate users' individual and group activities to achieve a specific goal. Human behavior narratives result from a combination of top-down (planned) and bottom-up (unplanned) sequences of events, as a reaction to time-based schedules and to social and environmental stimuli, respectively. A narrative management system orchestrates the narrative developments and resolves conflicts that may arise among competing events.