There's Gold in 'Reality Mining'

Data from the use of cell phones and other mobile devices yield patterns of movement that can help public agencies and businesses

by Arik Hesseldahl

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, U.S. officials scrambled to secure other national landmarks that might become future targets. Chief among them: California's Golden Gate Bridge. Might terrorists try to destroy the passageway between San Francisco and Marin County, and if so, how widespread would the fallout be?

To answer those questions, the Homeland Security Dept. turned to a small company called Inrix, which was recently spun out of Microsoft (MSFT) and uses GPS-enabled mobile phones and tracking devices installed on commercial vehicles to monitor traffic conditions. Inrix used its models to predict that the loss of the 1.7-mile bridge would result in immediate transport chaos. But less predictably, Inrix found that the region would bounce back quickly. "On Days Two through Four, the system tends to adjust because people know what is happening and adjust their plans," Inrix CEO Bryan Mistele says.

Inrix was able to reach those conclusions using what's known as "reality mining," or the study of human interaction based on usage of mobile phones and other portable computing devices. Researchers say they can get a more accurate picture of what people do, where they go, and with whom they communicate from a device they carry than from more subjective sources, including what people say about themselves. In short, people lie—cell phones don't. Or so the thinking goes.

Detecting Trends for the Common Good

These ubiquitous mini-computers not only log calls and messages, but when equipped with GPS chips can record a person's whereabouts. Using Bluetooth, the short-range technology that forges wireless connections between electronics, the phone can also keep tabs on the user's proximity to other holders of similar phones, and as more people use wireless handsets to make purchases, the phone gathers data on spending patterns, too.

Researchers can use this trove not only to gird for such doomsday scenarios as a terror attack but also for practical business purposes, like helping companies foster interoffice cooperation, event planners manage multimillion-dollar conventions and conferences, and cell-phone companies provide better customer service.

Reality mining can also help city planners unravel traffic snarls and public health officials track and prevent the spread of illnesses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. "There is so much societal good that can come from this," says Sandy Pentland, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and reality mining pioneer. "Suddenly we have the ability to know what is happening with the mass of humanity and adapt society to accommodate the trends we can detect, and make society work better."

Useful Data Patterns

Cell phones can be particularly useful in gathering health-related information, says Alex Kass, a researcher at Accenture (ACN). "It's one of the application areas that focus well both on the individual and on large groups," he says. Researchers can use data on a sample population over a given period—say, a week or a month—and then assume some of them are sick, to provide a more accurate picture of how widely an illness could spread, Kass says. Information on a particular individual or group could help build more accurate models to predict how an illness spreads from one person to another. People could also use the data to keep better tabs on themselves, Kass says.

Inrix tracks some 750,000 vehicles traversing 55,000 miles of roadway in 129 cities to gather real-time traffic congestion data that is then used in a variety of ways, such as providing live traffic information to devices made by Garmin (GRMN) and TomTom.