Self-organized togetherness in a crowd group

Abstract

Self-organization is a computing paradigm in which participating entities proceed to execute a global goal strictly based on local information. In population dynamics, the sense of togetherness (due to social bindings or a common confinement) experienced by a group of individuals (i.e. 'crowd group') is an interesting phenomenon to explore in the context of self-organization. Given a mechanism supporting spatial awareness, many settings require individuals belonging to a group, not only, to stay together (togetherness), but also to account for personal goals (dispersion). Self-organization can help individuals within such a group to stay together and having dispersed at the same time, togetherness being the primary requirement. In this paper, we discussed the parameters defining togetherness and dispersion within a spatially aware crowd group. In this context, the factors affecting the interplay between togetherness and dispersion were examined and maximum tolerable limits of dispersion were tailored in diverse settings of collaboration range, number of individuals willing to diverge and density of a crowd group. Simulation results provide insight into the interplay between these parameters, hence resolving operational dependencies.