Filling a theatre in times of corona
This addresses an economic challenge for theater operators during the pandemic, but is incremental as it applies existing packing methods to a new domain-specific scenario.
The paper tackles the problem of maximizing theater occupancy under COVID-19 social distancing rules by modeling it as a trapezoid packing optimization, achieving up to 40% capacity for single shows and 70% for two consecutive performances.
In this paper, we introduce an optimization problem posed by the Music Building Eindhoven (MBE) to deal with the economical consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for theatre halls. We propose a model for maximizing the number of guests in a theatre hall that respects social distancing rules, and is based on trapezoid packings. Computational results show that up to 40% of the normal capacity can be used for a single show setting, and up to 70% in case artists opt for two consecutive performances per evening.