dcc12
Agent-Based Modeling in Design
Important Dates
May 25 Submissions due
June 8 Notification of acceptance
30 June 2:00pm-5:30pm Workshop

Workshop Aim:

Agent-based modeling has been utilized in design to facilitate collaboration between designers, to simulate the interactions and behavior of designers, and to synthesize designs. Researchers developing such models face the common challenges of validation, gathering of relevant data, and choosing the appropriate level of granularity implemented in the model. Researchers are often required to present their models in written form within limited space, therefore restricting the level of detail, reducing the clarity of model assumptions and decreasing the possibility of comparison with other models and replicating the obtained results (which would increase the validity of the model). Demonstration of model’s performance in practice offers a unique means for discussion and can be beneficial for both, the model’s developers and peers.

We intend to bring together researchers developing and/or using agent-based models to present a spectrum of applications of agent-based modeling, emphasize the opportunities and potential pitfalls of the use of agent-based models in design, and propose future collaborations. We invite researchers in both computational and design studies to participate. Participants are encouraged to bring their work in progress and demonstrate their model's functionality and contributions.

Objectives:

  1. to provide a platform for modelers to exchange ideas, demonstrate their work and gain a deeper understanding of other's work;
  2. to enable modelers to compare, extend and combine models;
  3. to discuss challenges on data gathering, data validity, methodological validity, the validity of concep-tual models, the validity of modeled processes and validity of outcomes; to encourage discussion on model replicability;
  4. to provide means to describe and discuss modeled assumptions in greater detail and to discuss the desired level of granularity for specific models;
  5. to discuss the potential of agent-based models in design and to exchange ideas on future directions of the field (such as opportunities of utilizing big data analytics to extract deeper insights from large quantities of simulated data).
Workshop Chairs
Marija Majda Perisic (mperisic@fsb.hr)
Chris Hoyle (chris.hoyle@oregonstate.edu)
Program Committee
 

Christopher McComb, Penn State University, USA
Ricardo Sosa, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Mario Štorga, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Workshop Notes
Workshop Notes (link)

Submission information:
Participants do not need to submit anything to attend the workshop. 

Participants are invited to submit a 1-2 page description of their agent-based model (published or un-published). The submissions should describe the model’s purpose, agent’s behavior, simulated environ-ment and rules for interactions, and model’s input and output. An interactive demo that can be demon-strated in real time at the workshop is encouraged. Submissions should be e-mailed to the workshop chairs by May 25. All submissions will be reviewed for relevance by the committee and will be made available for participants to preview before the workshop.

Workshop format:
The format of the workshop is designed to encourage discussion and idea exchange. Participants will present their work and (if their model has been implemented) demonstrate the functionality of their model. Participants are encouraged to describe the primary concerns and obstacles encountered during development and implementation of their model. Other participants are invited to contribute to the dis-cussion from their perspective. Particularly, participants are encouraged to seek similarities between their work and the presented model in order to detect possibilities for each of the models’ extension or (sub-) models docking.
The second half of the workshop will be a discussion session focusing on topics such as the potential of agent-based models in design, future directions and practices which facilitate building replicable, valid models.

All attendees at the workshop need to register either as an addition to the DCC'18 conference registration at a cost of €30, or if not registered for the conference at a cost of €60. Please go the DCC'18 Registration page to add this workshop to your registration.