Where to Sit? The Study and Implementation of Seat Selection in Public Places

The way people behave in public places when selecting a seat should be of interest to anyone working with virtual people and environments such as in the simulation, movie, or games industry. This study, conducted in a café and a restaurant, was meant to gather information about this behaviour. In particular whether a behavioural pattern could be found and whether there is a notable difference in the behaviour of individuals and groups. The study found that specific behavioural patterns exist in these situations. These results lead to some guidelines for behaviour design as well as a model of seat selection based on utility. The model was implemented in the CADIA Populus Social Simulation engine.