June 24, 2012

Your smart phone can predict where you’re going next




Mobile Data Challenge 2012: Unlocking the secrets of smartphone data

Predictions

(June 24, 2012)  An important aspect of the MDC, says Juha, was using the data for predictive purposes.

“If the device is going to know in advance what the user is going to do next, then the phone can recommend something that you might need next or it can give you some options, which are most likely highly relevant for you,” he says.

This predictive capability was key to one of the winning MDC papers, Interdependence and Predictability of Human Mobility and Social Interactions, announced at the Pervasive Conference in Newcastle, UK, yesterday.

This paper, from the University of Birmingham, found that you could improve the predictive accuracy of where someone was going next if you also looked at the mobility information of his or her social group.