A Survey on Mobile Data Uses

Abstract

Mobile devices leave an unprecedented volume and variety of digital traces of human beings. In this paper, the authors propose an overview of multiple uses of mobile data published in the scientific literature. The organization of the survey follows a typology built on two criteria: interaction level and focus of analysis. Crossing these two dimensions would suggest 8 research areas. Only 4 of them are actually covered by the collected pieces of work. They are discussed in turn showing off the main characteristics of them. Finally, the discussion of the 4 remaining areas highlights new research areas with a special focus on the possibility to use mobile data to influence individual users towards efficient collective behaviors. To conclude, current and future research avenues suggest that mobile devices and their underlying data are likely to be employed in many domains and may be used not only to observe human life but also to influence it.