The design and simulation of traffic networks in virtual environments

For over half a century, researchers from a diverse set of disciplines have been studying the behaviour of traffic flow to better understand the causes of traffic congestion, accidents, and related phenomena. As the global population continues to rise, there is an increasing demand for more efficient and effective transportation infrastructures that are able to accommodate a greater number of civilians without compromising travel times, journey quality, cost, or accessibility. With recent advances in computing technology, transportation infrastructures are now typically developed using design and simulation packages that enable engineers to accurately model large-scale road networks and evaluate their designs through visual simulation. However, as these projects increase in scale and complexity, methodologies to intuitively design more complex and realistic simulations are highly desirable. The need of such technology translates across to the entertainment industry, where traffic simulations are integrated into computer games, television, film, and virtual tourism applications to enhance the realism and believability of the simulated scenario. In this thesis two significant challenges related to the design and simulation of traffic networks for use in virtual environments are presented. The first challenge is the development of intuitive techniques to assist the design and construction of high-fidelity three-dimensional road networks for use in both urban and rural virtual environments. The second challenge considers the implementation of computational models to accurately simulate the behaviour of drivers and pedestrians in transportation networks, in real time. An overview of the literature in the field is presented in this work with novel contributions relating to the challenges defined above.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of East Anglia

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Applegate, Chris

Language dc:language

en