Managing options

An algorithm can better predict your future movements by getting a little help from your friends.

 

Researchers in the U.K. have come up with an algorithm that follows your own mobility patterns and adjusts for anomalies by factoring in the patterns of people in your social group (defined as people who are mutual contacts on each other's smartphones).

 

All of the study participants lived within 30 miles of Lausanne, Switzerland, and were mainly "students, researchers, and people that are fairly predictable anyway." But the findings are considered noteworthy because they exploit the "synchronized rhythm of the city" for greater predictive insights.

 

The paper was part of a Nokia-sponsored Mobile Data Challenge grew out of another mid-2000s reality mining project sponsored by Nokia.

Via ddrrnt