TRAFFIC WAVES
A jam from almost nothing.
Tap one car’s brakes. Change the density and the drivers. Follow the wave through the traffic, then untangle it with speed traces and a space–time plot.
Enter the experimentSMALL INTERACTIONS. BIG PATTERNS.
Complexity
& Emergence
Nobody planned the pattern.
Everybody helped make it.
A driver slows down. The next driver responds. Across a whole road, those local interactions can become something you would never see by watching just one car. Follow a slowdown along a road, explore coordination at a four-way stop, or watch local rules turn individuals into a flock. Discover how the behaviour of many becomes a pattern of its own.
STEP INTO AN EXPERIMENT
What can emerge
from a few simple rules?
AFTER YOU · FOUR-WAY STOP LAB
A small pause.
A much longer queue.
Give one driver two extra seconds. Send the same cars in bursts. Discover how timing, turning paths and spare capacity shape everybody’s wait.
Enter the experiment
SWARM LAB · BIRDS & FISH
Together.
Without a leader.
Give every individual a few local rules. Watch a flock or school form, split around an obstacle and respond to a passing threat. Then look through one individual’s eyes.
Enter the experimentIdeas you’ll explore
Emergence
Interactions between individuals produce patterns across the whole system.
Stability
A small disturbance can fade away, persist, or grow.
Distributions
An average can hide a road full of very different experiences.