Sensing Human Activity: GPS Tracking.

Area of Science:

• Urban Studies
• Geographic Information Science
• Human Mobility Analysis

Background:

• Enhanced Global Positioning System (GPS) technology allows devices to capture travelled routes, serving as sensors for urban and regional scale activity.
• Traditional uses of GPS for navigation are expanding to data collection for human movement analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the value of GPS as a sensor technology for measuring human activities.
• To explore the potential and challenges of using GPS for collecting spatial-temporal data in urban environments.

Main Methods:

• Developed a process and database architecture for collecting pedestrian movement data in three European city centers (Norwich, Rouen, Koblenz).
• Conducted an experiment collecting activity data from 13 families in Almere, The Netherlands, over one week using GPS devices.

Main Results:

• GPS devices can collect invaluable spatial-temporal data across various scales and settings.
• Data collected provides new layers of knowledge for urban studies and human mobility research.

Conclusions:

• GPS technology is a widely usable instrument for collecting significant human activity data.
• Significant challenges persist in the optimal use and deployment of GPS devices for future research in human mobility and urban studies.