spider maps for location based services improvement

Spider Maps For Loca/on-‐Based Services Improvement

Research Team: João Mourinho

Teresa Galvão Dias

João Falcão e Cunha

15 February, Geneve IESS’11

Night buses from city of London

Point Posi/oning Enhancement Strategies

Background Related Work

Spider Maps Conclusions

Spider Maps For Loca/on-‐Based Services Improvement 3/28

Spider Maps for Loca/on-‐Based Services Improvement

Background 1

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•  Industrial Revolu/on -‐  Changes in economy, society -‐  Large Urban Areas -‐  Complex Transporta/on systems

•  People are concentra/ng in big ci/es -‐  80% of the world popula/on lives in urban areas -‐  60% of the European popula/on lives in urban areas

•  Public transporta/on is crucial | Sustainability and efficiency in mobility | High quality of urban life


Background 1

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•  Problem -‐  People do not use Public Transporta/on to its full poten/al | Time and Money

•  Some services are not efficient -‐  Trip planning in public transporta/on (PT) currently offered through the use of paper maps at transporta/on network hubs and stops

•  Tradi/onal Maps are produced manually | High Cost •  They do not reflect user context | Inflexibility


Background 1

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Objec/ve:

·∙ Develop a new kind of map | “Spider Map”

·∙ Spider Map -‐  Is a special kind of Schema/c Map -‐  Is an abstrac/on and simplifica/on of reality -‐  May be automa/cally produced by computer

·∙ We have researched how they can be used to improve quality of LBS and PT ridership





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Related Work 2

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Loca/on Based Services -‐  Informa/on Systems, Accessible with mobile devices through a network -‐  Make use of the loca/on of the mobile device -‐  Are an intersec/on of technologies


•  Two way communica/on and interac/on | user tells the system his actual context, inten/on and preferences (or they are obtained in a pervasive way), and the service provider delivers informa/on tailored to that context

Related Work 2

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•  LBS Components -‐  Mobile Device -‐  Communica/on Network -‐  Posi/oning Component -‐  Service and Applica/on Provider -‐  Data and Content Provider

•  LBS User Ac/ons -‐  Loca/ng -‐  Searching -‐  Naviga/ng -‐  Iden/fying -‐  Checking


Related Work 2

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•  LBS | Importance of Context -‐  All the five user ac/ons depend on the context

•  Context types -‐ Spa/al Context | where the user is -‐ Time Context | when he is using the service -‐ User Context | what is he using the service for


Related Work 2

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•  There are some types of mobile services which are not effec/vely grasping their users | Public Transporta/on

•  Different dimensions of informa/on quality affect consumer’s sa/sfac/on towards mobile services and their acceptance (Chae et al, 2002)


Connec/on Quality

Interac/on Quality

Content Quality

Contextual Quality

User Sa/sfac/on Inten/on to use

Related Work 2

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Schema/c Maps

Famous Schema/c Map -‐ London Underground Diagram (Beck, 1933)

• Innova/ve | Line Orienta/on and Distor/on • Controversial.. But successful!

Related Work 2

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Automa/on of the Schema/za/on Process:

Input Map/Sketch Phase I -‐ Align to Grid Phase II -‐ Op/miza/on Output Schema/c Map


Schema/za/on Process -‐  Reduces unimportant details through abstrac/on -‐  May use distor/on and other visual techniques -‐  Nowadays executed by a handful of skilled designers and cartographers

Related Work 2


Challenges -‐  Algorithms | Mul/criteria combinatorial op/miza/on problem, ooen with conflic/ng variables -‐  There is some research but considering only isolated parts of the problem -‐  A true mul/disciplinary approach is needed | Informa/on Systems | Transporta/on Services | Opera/ons Research | Human Computer Interac/on | Cogni/ve Psychology | Arts

Current main issues -‐  Algorithm Performance | Real /me for complex maps not achieved yet -‐  Visual Presenta/on | Aesthe/cs | Labeling | Node Conflicts in dense maps




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Automated Schema/c Maps Point Posi/oning Enhancement Strategies

Spider Maps 3

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Defini/on -‐ Are a special type of Schema/c Map -‐ As with Schema/c Maps, stops and lines correspond to ver/ces and edges

Enhancements -‐ Spider architecture -‐ Pay special aqen/on to context


Spider Maps 3

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Example | Porto São João Hospital Area Spider Map


Spider Maps 3

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Electronic Spider Maps

-‐  Spider Map advantages can only be fully materialized if they are automa/cally generated

-‐  An electronic map can be regenerated much faster than a paper map | Fit to different contexts

-‐ Context variables could be obtained pervasively (sensors) and influence the genera/on of electronic spider maps


Spider Maps 3

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Our team designed a sooware framework

•  Generates spider Maps automa/cally, In real /me

•  It is a research lab for our Algorithms

•  Can be used as an engine to power LBS

•  Already in use with Success!


Spider Maps 3


Algorithms Researched:

-‐  Fisheye algorithm | Done -‐  GRASP (Greedy Randomized Adapta/ve Search | Done, in use -‐ “HPPO – Heuris/c Point Posi/oning Op/miza/on”) has already shown promising results in the Framework tests -‐  Enhanced Tabu Search| Is being finished

Innova/on -‐ Spider Maps generated through our framework are already being used in Porto and Lisbon since the end of 2010

Spider Maps 3

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How can Spider Maps enhance LBS and increase PT ridership?

-‐ Quality of informa/on has a direct effect on user sa/sfac/on on mobile services

-‐ Spider Maps present enhanced features which improve informa/on quality in all its four dimensions


Spider Maps 3

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Improving Context Quality

-‐ Spider map, due to its innova/ve design and features, is well suited to include context informa/on | Where am I and where can I go to?

-‐ The hub intui/vely depicts the space context where the user is at the present /me with higher detail | Replaces the “you are here” tag used in tradi/onal maps

-‐ The lines flowing from the hub only represent the lines available from the user’s current loca/on, not the en/re network | Reduces informa/on overload and learning /me


Spider Maps 3

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Improving Context Quality

-‐  If produced automa/cally, it can change its presenta/on in seconds to accommodate different /me contexts (ex: special event, unpredicted disrup/on of service at one line)

-‐  Can be tailored to specific users in real /me (ex: colorblind people, children, etc)


Spider Maps 3

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Improving Content Quality

-‐  Spider maps allow the user to locate (through the hub), to search (improve searching by elimina/ng superfluous informa/on), to navigate (user can easily know how to go to one des/na/on through its simplified layout)

-‐  Spider maps can be extended to allow iden/fying and checking (although those are not the main objec/ves of PT)


Spider Maps 3

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Improving Interac/on Quality

-‐  The spider architecture mimics the graphic organizer spider maps | used in K-‐12 schools in United States to improve learning

-‐  Spider architecture represents knowledge in a similar way human brain does | Maps easier to use, require less learning /me and cause less user errors and frustra/on

Improving Connec/on Quality

-‐ Spider maps do not have an effect here | But being produced in real /me decreases wai/ng!


Spider Maps 3

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As Koivumaki studies show (Koivumaki et al, 2008) -‐  there is a posi/ve rela/onship between the four

informa/on quality dimensions and user sa/sfac/on and between user sa/sfac/on and the inten/on to use the service

As Spider Maps improve all the informa/on quality dimensions, they will improve user sa/sfac/on and consequently increase the inten/on to use the service.


Conclusions 4

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•  Spider Maps are a highly adequate vehicle to communicate transport network informa/on in mobile services | higher informa/on quality in comparison with normal or schema/c maps

•  Their automated produc/on in soo real /me makes them capable of responding in real /me to changes in context suppor/ng adapta9ve services.

•  Future work needs to be directed to test spider maps in real LBS of a PT service, to support the evidence that spider maps increase inten/on to use LBS and PT ridership.


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Thank you! | Ques/ons ?


spider maps for location based services improvement

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