Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Welcome to Kova’s FAQ—your go-to place for clear, quick answers. Here you’ll find helpful info about how Kova works, common questions, and simple solutions, all in one spot. If you need more help, we’re always here for you.
What is Kova PedSim?
Kova PedSim is a socially driven pedestrian simulation plugin for Grasshopper 3D that helps architects and urban designers explore how people move and interact within spatial environments.
How is Kova PedSim different from other pedestrian simulation tools?
Unlike most pedestrian tools that focus only on movement and collision avoidance, Kova PedSim integrates social behaviors and interactions directly into the simulation. Agents can socialize with others and engage with their environment. These social behaviors are exposed through parameters that can be tuned by the user.
What is Kova PedSim best used for?
Kova PedSim is best suited for early- to mid-stage design exploration, allowing designers to compare scenarios, test spatial strategies, and better understand potential social and movement patterns rather than predict exact real-world outcomes.
Is Kova PedSim free to use?
Yes. Kova PedSim is completely free to use for both academic and professional work. It can be downloaded through the Package Manager or viz Food4Rhino: https://www.food4rhino.com/en/app/kova-pedsim.
What are the differences between each simulation engine?
Each simulation engine is tailored to a different scale and level of abstraction:
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The Network simulation is ideal for large-scale designs that can be described as nodes and connections in two or three dimensions.
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The Cellular Automata (CA) simulation is suited for medium-scale, grid-based environments where movement is guided by local rules. This approach introduces spatial structure while remaining relatively abstract.
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The Physics simulation is best for small-scale designs where agents move freely within a space and are guided by local forces and interactions.
Are the results deterministic or stochastic?
Simulations include stochastic behavior to better reflect real-world variability. However, results can be reproduced by using the same seed value.
What is an iteration?
An iteration represents a single simulation time step. The length of an iteration is abstract and does not correspond directly to real-world time. However, users can approximate the real-world duration of a simulation by relating simulation parameters to known pedestrian behaviors.
For example, by comparing an agent’s base velocity for one iteration to an average pedestrian walking speed in distance per second, users can estimate how much real-world time a single iteration represents. This approximation can then be used to infer the overall duration of a simulation based on the total number of iterations.
Because agent behavior is influenced by social interactions, environmental conditions, and stochastic variation, these time estimates should be understood as relative and scenario-specific, rather than exact representations of real-world time.
How can I customize my simulation?
Kova PedSim exposes a wide range of parameters that allow users to customize agent behavior, social interactions, environmental conditions, and simulation logic. These include sociability, personal space, movement characteristics, environmental influences, and program attraction, among others. This flexibility allows users to test different design scenarios and behavioral assumptions.
What data can I extract from the simulation?
Kova PedSim provides access to detailed quantitative data, including: agent footpaths, agent states and velocities, social interaction information, and agent attributes and histories. This data can be leveraged to extrapolate social hotspots, high congestion zones, and key attraction locations, among others.
How can I visualize results?
Kova PedSim includes visualization tools such as live agent displays, heatmaps, and animated simulations. Users can also export individual frames or recordings of simulations for further analysis or presentation.
Where can I find documentation and tutorials?
Documentation, example files, and tutorial videos are accessible through the plugin interface and the Kova PedSim website.
How do I report bugs, request features, or seek further information?
We are excited to chat with you about any questions or feedback you may have. Please feel free to submit questions on our website or reach out via email. We are actively developing Kova PedSim and highly value any user