The phone that knows where you’re going

Can mobile phones predict our behavior? Three students accurately predicted the place where phone users were likely to go next. Their method could be used to develop new services and applications. The daily dance of commuting and working - the famous French "métro, boulot, dodo" - hasn't changed much in the past few decades, aside from our new constant companions - mobile phones. They collect a host of data as we travel, particularly about the trajectories we follow. And because most of us aren't very adventurous, these data can also be used as a statistical basis from which to predict with a high degree of accuracy where we're likely to go next at any given point in time. Three EPFL PhD students have refined this idea, which could lead to new services and applications. On June 19, the accuracy of their predictions earned them first place in the Nokia Mobile Data Challenge, an international contest involving 108 teams from universities such as TU Berlin, Carnegie Mellon and Virginia Tech.