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May 21, 2010
Tracking movements
Hebrew U is using GPS for unique purposes.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
In the summer of 2003, Hebrew University of Jerusalem geography student Michal Isaacson answered an ad posted by a professor who was looking for a research assistant on a project focusing on tourism in Akko, Jaffa and Nazareth. From understanding the movements of visitors, to detecting the mobility of patients after spine surgery, Isaacson is among a group of researchers at Hebrew University putting global positioning systems to innovative use. She will be in Vancouver next week to give a talk called The Use of GPS for Social Behavior Research: A Glimpse into Tel Aviv’s Future via Advanced Tracking Technology.
Isaacson’s work with HU’s Dr. Noam Shoval back in 2003 – he is currently her PhD supervisor – resulted in the book Tourist Mobility and Advanced Tracking Technologies, published by Routledge in 2009. When they set out to examine patterns of spatial activity in the Old City of Akko, the pair discovered just how hard it was to do.
“The task at hand was not simple,” explained Isaacson, referring to the introduction in her and Shoval’s book. “Old Akko is a small area made up of many tiny alleyways and passages with poor signage and poor maps.... After returning from a walk around the city one day, we found we had great difficulty plotting the route we had taken on a map. If two geographers, we realized, had difficulty recalling their route and recognizing it on a map, what chance was there that participants in a study would be able to fulfil the same task?”
After considering the help of private investigators – with the thought that those who track people professionally would have some insight into the effective tracking of visitors – and meeting with various suppliers of tracking technologies, Isaacson said, “In the end, the solution to our problems came from the Israeli branch of Motorola, which supplied us with nine GPS location kits with data-storing abilities that – despite their bulky appearance – did perform reasonably well and enabled us to carry out a successful project in the Old City of Akko.
“From that point on, the road that has stretched before us has been full of adventures and new discoveries. Stumbling on using tracking technologies has brought our way many new research topics and ideas, in the realm of tourism and in other areas, that would not have been possible otherwise.”
About what exactly they are studying, Isaacson explained, “Spatial behavior is basically where people are. It includes questions like where do they spend their time, how do they move through space (when do they walk or drive, how fast do they move). In a broader context, it includes also the reasoning and motivation that are behind those aspects of behavior.”
She said, “The main objective of our research is to understand spatial behavior. I have done some preliminary research in modeling spatial behavior but prediction is of less importance at this stage.”
With respect to the use of GPS to monitor the outcome of spine surgery using GPS, she explained, “The knowledge and expertise that I have been a partner in developing under Dr. Noam Shoval’s supervision has also been employed in developing a tracking and analyzing system that has far-reaching medical applications. In collaboration with Dr. Yair Barzilay from the orthopedic surgery unit at Hadassah Medical Organization, a system was developed for detecting the mobility of patients after surgery, as an objective measure for their recovery and wellbeing.
“Patients carry a GPS unit with them after the operation and the collected data sheds light on their objective abilities – How much do they walk? For how long are they able to sit in a car? – and other aspects of movement. Future development will integrate additional sensors that will allow the combination of GPS data with physiological data, such as heart rate and blood pressure. The system has recently been licensed to Location Based Technologies, Inc., for further development and commercialization in the medical arena.”
In Isaacson’s dissertation, she is trying “to develop new analytical tools and theoretical concepts that deepen the understanding of time-space data in general and the spatial activity of elderly people in particular.”
She told the Independent that she is “studying the spatial activity of healthy elderly people, with a focus on aspects of repetition and routine of elderly people. Routine is of great interest to transportation research, mainly because of congestion that routine creates on transportation systems. We all rush out in the morning hurrying to get to the office by nine; this routine is responsible for a large portion of the congestion on the transportation system. Many elderly people do not participate in the workforce and, therefore, do not have to report to an office at a specific time. How routine is their behavior? As our population ages and the numbers of people that are retired grow, how will this affect the transportation system? How will it affect the way that urban environments are used? These are main themes in my dissertation.”
Isaacson has presented papers at many scientific meetings and conferences, and continues to work on articles for submission to refereed journals. All this while being the mother of two girls: Nitzan, 8, and Arava, 4. She and her husband, Eran Brand, live in a suburb of Jerusalem, but she grew up in Rehovot, to where her family moved from Philadelphia when she was seven.
“When I am not busy with my research or family, you can find me throwing pots on a ceramic wheel, I am an enthusiastic ceramicist,” Isaacson told the Independent.
About her upcoming lecture in Vancouver, she said, “In my talk, I will explain how GPS technology can change the way we understand the society in which we live and how information derived from this technology can give insight into how we will be living in the future.”
Michal Isaacson’s lecture will be hosted by Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University and the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, in the JCCGV Adult Lounge, on May 27, 7:30 p.m. RSVP to CFHU, 604-257-5133, or the JCCGV, 604-257-5118.
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