Tracking of Moving Objects

During the last years, the CartoGIS research group at the Department of Geography has been actively involved in research on moving objects. Building on academic experience on the theoretical foundations in this field, the group has now extended its focus to also include application-oriented research. In this light, a new methodology was developed to measure the movements of crowds by tracing mobile devices equipped with the Bluetooth technology. Most recently, this methodology was tested on the Ghent Light Festival 2012 where it was tested and valued as a very valuable tool able to deliver real-time information aiding in the good – and more importantly safe – management of a large-scale festival (approx. 500.000 visitors over 4 days).

The methodology makes use of Bluetooth scanners, which register the presence of mobile devices with a visible Bluetooth interface within their communication range. Every time a detection occurs, the time of detection and the MAC address of the device (acting as a unique identifier) are registered. Because this MAC address does not change over time, the path generated by a mobile device can be reconstructed as it passes from the vicinity of one scanner to the next. This way, a portion of a crowd can act as a sample population whose movements can be registered and analyzed (approx. 10% of a general crowd in our experience). As the MAC address cannot be linked to any other personal information (names, telephone numbers, etc.) the generated data are anonymous, avoiding potential privacy infringements.

Selected publications

Versichele, M., Neutens, T., Delafontaine, M. & Van de Weghe, N. (2011). The use of Bluetooth for analysing spatiotemporal dynamics of human movement at mass events: A case study of the Ghent Festivities. Applied Geography. (Article)
Various authors. Bluetooth Tracking Project (Poster)
Huybrechts, R., Versichele, M., & Van de Weghe, N. (2012). Lichtfestival 2012. Bluetoothmetingen UGent. (Tech. Rap. Nr. 5). België: Universiteit Gent, Vakgroep Geografie. (Report)
Versichele, M., & Van de Weghe, N. (2011). Bluemap: Gentse Feesten 2011 (Tech. Rap. Nr. 3). België: Universiteit Gent, Vakgroep Geografie. (Report)
Versichele, M., & Van de Weghe, N. (2011). Horeca Expo 2009-2010 (Tech. Rap. Nr. 4). België: Universiteit Gent, Vakgroep Geografie. (Report)
Versichele, M., & Van de Weghe, N. (2010). Bluetooth tracking: Eerste evaluatie (Tech. Rap. Nr. 1). België: Universiteit Gent, Vakgroep Geografie. (Report)
Versichele, M., & Van de Weghe, N. (2010). Horeca Expo 2009: Onderzoek naar het bewegingsgedrag van de bezoekers van Horeca Expo 2009 door middel van Bluetooth-tracking (Tech. Rap. Nr. 2). België: Universiteit Gent, Vakgroep Geografie. (Report)
Van Londersele, B., Delafontaine, M., & Van de Weghe, N. (2009) Bluetooth Tracking. A spy in your pocket, GIM International 23(11).

Selected Tracking Projects

Several of these projects were used in a master thesis.

12-Urenloop UGent 2012
Lichtfestival Gent 2012
Mobiliteitsstudie Sint-Niklaas 2011
Wandelnetwerk Bulskampveld 2011
Gent Loopt 2011
Ronde van Vlaanderen 2011
Studentenrestaurants UGent 2011
Shoppingcenter Gent Zuid 2011
Gentse Feesten 2011
Horeca Expo 2010
I Love Techno 2010
Student Kick-Off 2010
Dranouter 2010
Gentse Feesten 2010
Rock Werchter 2010
Dies Natalis UGent 2010
Horeca Expo 2009
I Love Techno 2009
Rock Werchter 2009
TW Classic 2009
Nacht Van De Onderzoekers 2009

Tracking Projects in the media