Predicting how a random crowd will move through an area was always thought to be difficult, however the American Physical Society claims that its all a matter of statistical physics. Gaming in virtual reality can be difficult when you don’t get the crowds around you just right, and now a new law exits to show how pedestrians interact in a crowd.

It is based on the fact that most people will pick the shortest distance to walk along with avoiding any possible collisions with anyone on the way. People do this intuitively, but in the virtual reality world of gaming the programers have to create this effect using software programs.

By applying this statistical physics law they will be able to create a simulation where crowds move in the game much as they would move in real life. As the simulations were worked upon by researchers certain crowd patterns appeared. These patterns, such as the one where a person avoids collision from on comers with greater distance than those who are walking in the same direction, help predict crowd behavior with more accuracy than previous models.

Ioannis Karamouzas of the University of Minnesota who was involved in the scientific study of crowd patterns said that the universality of the law was really surprising, and understanding this can lead to safer building designs and shed some light into the anticipatory nature of human interactions,