

Moshpits Simulation - BIackSwan
http://mattbierbaum.github.com/moshpits.js/

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newobj
Too late to complain about lack of circle pit and wall of death. However, I
will point out that it kind of seems like it assumes a uniformity of violence,
whereas empirically speaking you always have at least one person who is just
seriously dangerous either due to intoxication or mental issues combined with
large stature/strength. This person both repels others with a stronger force
as well as draws in/invites the odd skirmish. Also missing is the fact that in
certain scenarios, the non-moshers will aggressively shove the moshers back
into the pit, versus here where it seems like they simply tolerate them to
whatever extent packing will allow.

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shanev
My thinking exactly. Cool science project, but doesn't resemble a real life
pit at all. The circle pit and people pushing along the perimeter are
required.

~~~
doktrin
haha. Maybe I got caught up watching this a little longer than you guys, but
at times the pattern does begin emulating a circle pit. Both directions.

It's sort of hard to determine a "push" from the perspective of spheres, but
IIRC I saw some of that behavior as well. I mean pushing insofar as red pieces
would occasionally move erratically away from the walls.

I do agree about the lone mad rager acting as an unstable epicenter, though.
That's key behavior, and something I did not notice in this simulation.

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SimianLogic2
Interesting that they broke it down into only two types of particles: moshing
and not-moshing. In my experience there should be a third particle for the
"border guards" -- the people who help keep the shape of the pit and actively
push people back in (as opposed to a non-mosher particle which merely absorbs
hits).

~~~
colbyh
Don't forget the natural variability of said border guards who might, should
their favorite song enter the scenario, join the moshing group.

~~~
wavesounds
Also theres people who will avoid the moshers unless specifically behind
'border guards' - in this simulation everyone essentially acts as border
guards; the grey dots dont try to avoid the red just hold their ground.

Really cool app though!

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buster
I'm actually far more impressed (or stunned) that there is a paper for
"Collective Motion of Moshers at Heavy Metal Concerts". Does this qualify as
science?!

Edit: Ah well, i always thought a paper would be like a diploma or similar,
turns out it is a 2 and a half page article written by 4(!) people who watched
youtube to simulate red dots in a mass of black dots. Anyway, i'm
underwhelmed.

~~~
fusiongyro
If you'd rather go meta, there's a metal song about moshing:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWWdgCqh-1g>

"Toxic Waltz" by Exodus. Great song, fantastic album.

~~~
malkia
My favourite: S.O.D. The Milano Mosh -
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNKKAXtaxco>

    
    
      You think that, you're really hard
      You think that you can mosh
      Got your suspenders, and got your boots
      You'd better wear armor, you fuckin' fool
      WE MOSH, until we die,
      WE MOSH, until you try.
      You think, that you can try,
      But can you do ... the MILANO MOSH !
      REPEAT VERSE

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davidw
Not that realistic for low numbers of particles. Those guys would get their
asses kicked for being jerks running around and crashing into people like
that!

~~~
thenipper
They definitely wouldn't be wandering around semi-randomly like they do with a
low density of particles.

Depending on the genre, they'd probably end up towards the front pushing a few
black circles into the stage.

~~~
robryan
Depends if the band is trying to get a circle pit going it seems to be semi
realistic. But in general yes I think people are generally either trying to
get closer or fighting off others who are trying to get closer.

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pud
The math behind it, from "Collective Motion of Moshers at Heavy Metal
Concerts"

<http://arxiv.org/pdf/1302.1886v1.pdf>

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BrianEatWorld
I wonder if they properly controlled for the type of concert. In my
experience, moshing will vary by genre with hardcore moshers tending to be
more independent (see: windmills and kung-fu kicks). I also recently swapped
coasts and noticed that West Coast pits seem to seek out the torodial "circle
pit", while East Coast pits a more chaotic.

It is a neat idea for a paper, but it seems like it needs a bit more thought
to be useful for real-world applications.

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artto
If you increase the box size, it just becomes a bunch of idiots running around
on a large field and some people watching them.

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gusgordon
This seems like it can be used to simulate a liquid well. If gravity
acceleration is added, then the whole thing is blurred and a threshold
applied, you can get something like this:
<http://www.patrickmatte.com/stuff/physicsLiquid/>

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scheff
Missing is - 1\. Wall of death. 2\. Collapse of the mosh when one person trips
over. 3\. Crowd surfers and the effects of a boot to the head.

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Tyr42
It's neat, I can get a flow going from left to right and it manages to stay
stable. Doesn't seem useful till we have torodial moshpit though.

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834wu8389uo9
Dude, you need to autoplay the audio on page load.

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mark_story
Yay HORSE the band as a soundtrack!

