Population-scale contact network simulator for disease and
This system builds a detailed digital twin of a real population by creating synthetic stand-ins for every individual, assigning each one realistic attributes and daily activity schedules drawn from multiple real-world data sources. It then maps out who encounters whom — generating a social contact network — by combining behavioral theory with data feeds from at least two separate sources simultaneously. A flexible broker architecture handles data requests dynamically: if one software agent can't fulfill a request with its available resources, it spins up new agents on the fly to get what's needed. The end result is a rich, updatable simulation of how people move, interact, and spread behavior, disease, or information across a population.
What you could build
A simulation platform sold to public health agencies, defense intelligence units, or emergency planners that models disease spread, information contagion, or crisis scenarios at the population level; buyers include federal agencies like CDC or DHS and large defense contractors building threat-assessment tools.
Who in Virginia should care
Northern Virginia defense primes and federal contractors supporting DHS, DARPA, or intelligence community modeling and simulation programs would be natural licensees.
Readiness: Prototype likely
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Christopher L. Barrett, Madhav V. Marathe, Keith R. Bisset, Richard J. Beckman, Paula E. Stretz, Henning S. Mortveit, Stephen G. Eubank, Achla Marathe, Anil Kumar S. Vullikanti
- Granted
- April 16, 2013
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 8423494
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.