Contemporary agent-based pedestrian simulations offergreat potential to evaluate architectural and urban design proposals interms of medical risks, crowd safety, and visitor comfort. Nevertheless,due to their relative computational heaviness and complicatedinput-parameters, pedestrian simulations are not employed during thedesign process commonly. Simulation results significantly impactplanning decisions, especially when they are already available in theearly design phases. This paper analyzes the requirements of pedestriansimulations for early planning stages, such as seamless integrationinto iterative and collaborative design processes, interactivity, andappropriate visualization of results. For this purpose, we combinetwo existing projects: a high-accuracy pedestrian simulation andthe CDP//Collaborative Design Platform. To adapt the simulationmethod to the requirements of early planning stages, we investigateinteractions that blend intuitively with the design process and enablemultiple users to interact simultaneously. We simplify simulations'input parameters to match the level of detail of the early designphases. The simulation model is adapted to facilitate continuousand spontaneous interactions. Furthermore, we develop visualizationtechniques to support initial design negotiations and present strategiesfor compensating computation time and giving constant feedback to adynamic design process.    «

Contemporary agent-based pedestrian simulations offergreat potential to evaluate architectural and urban design proposals interms of medical risks, crowd safety, and visitor comfort. Nevertheless,due to their relative computational heaviness and complicatedinput-parameters, pedestrian simulations are not employed during thedesign process commonly. Simulation results significantly impactplanning decisions, especially when they are already available in theearly design phases. This paper analyzes...    »