www.cis.fordham.edu/wisdm or wisdmproject.com
Gary M. Weiss
Professor and Chair
Dept. of Computer & Info. Science
Fordham University
gweiss@cis.fordham.edu
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Fordham and Bronx Zoo have a formal
collaboration agreement
Increased collaboration between Fordham and
the Zoo is a high priority
 Supported at the highest levels of the university
▪ This specific effort is garnering attention & support
 Several departments at Fordham involved
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Fordham and Zoo members of local consortium
 Also includes Botanical Gardens & Einstein
2/1/2012
Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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WISDM = Wireless Sensor Data Mining
“Mine” knowledge from smart phone sensors
 mainly accelerometer thus far; now moving to GPS
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Most relevant application: activity recognition
 Determine what a user is doing from accelerometer
▪ Walking, jogging, stairs, standing, sitting, lying down
 Supported by a NSF “Health and Well-Being” grant
▪ Track a user’s activities & generate reports (actitracker)
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Other apps: Biometrics & Trait Identification
2/1/2012
Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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WISDM platform has three pieces
 Application running on Android smart phone
 Back end server to receive and process data
 Web interface for presentation of results
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Most of our effort goes into this platform
This platform can be used for visitor tracking
2/1/2012
Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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GPS is highly accurate
 Works outdoors only
 Can determine when enter and leave a building
 Commonly used for traffic navigation
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Cell phone tower triangulation is also possible
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Wi-Fi tracking also possible (future)
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Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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Demographic information
Route information
 Detailed per visitor tracking/replay
 Heat-maps (density map)
 How often each path is used
 Stats by time of day and day of week
2/1/2012
Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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Exhibit Information
 Identify boundaries of each exhibit
 Number visitors, distr. of time spent
 Stats by time of day and day of week
 Previous and next exhibit
 Activity recognition: sitting vs. standing
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Traffic Reports
 Automated wait time estimates
2/1/2012
Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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Individual Summary Statistics
 Time spent in park
 Average speed
 Time spent indoors vs. outdoors
 Favorite exhibit (by time)
 Time spend in restaurants, gift shop
 Exhibits visited
▪ Generate a report about visit and save to an account
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Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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Determine patterns and differences in
patterns based on:
 Time of day and day of week (free Wednesdays)
 Demographic information
▪ Age, number in party, gender
2/1/2012
Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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To perform tracking and monitoring user can
keep smart phone in pocket
 Does not interfere with experience
 Limited benefits to user (maybe coupon at end)
 Fine for a limited research study
▪ May include few thousand subjects
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Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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Broadcast notifications
 Send message to everyone via app or text msg
 Notify of feeding times, low wait times, etc.
 Coupons and special deals
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Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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Treasure hunts
Interactive information guide
Uploading of pictures
 Tagged with time and location
 Save to visitor-specific account or shared
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Accounts can preserve info. across visits and
maintain relationship
 “You like elephants so maybe you are interested in
our new baby elephant”
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Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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Wireless connectivity
 Wi-Fi is ideal, cellular connection is fine
 Data buffered until a connection can be made
▪ Could even transmit after leaving park if app not deleted
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Mechanics of downloading app
 Just flyer? Kiosk? Researcher?
2/1/2012
Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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Fordham WISDM class visited the zoo for a
few hours with smart phones
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Only most basic functionality
 Tracking of visitor through zoo
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Used existing Google Maps (which are not
very good for the Bronx Zoo)
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Gary M. Weiss
Bronx Zoo Presentation
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For more information go to wisdmproject.com
Gary Weiss
gweiss@cis.fordham.edu
Work Supported by:
National Science Foundation
Google Faculty Research Award
Fordham University
2/1/2012
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Bronx Zoo Presentation
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