No. 338: You can pinpoint the location where people get together for better tax assignment in 10 seconds (October 28, 2011)

Fujitsu Laboratories will start a new cloud service using GPS and huge positional information stored of mobile phones within the year. The laboratories developed a technology to analyze the flows of cars, people, and products 60 times faster than the existing technology. If this technology is applied to the assignment of taxies, it analyzes information it receives from several thousands taxies traveling in Tokyo and narrows down the places where many people are waiting for taxies. The existing technology can give rough ideas like many people are waiting for taxies before a railway station, but it cannot narrow it down to supply an exact location.

The existing technology on positional information processes information by dividing the map into pieces, while the new technology eliminates the regions with scarce information on the map and pinpoints the location for better efficiency and serviceability. It will also be applicable to the preliminary study of the location of a new store because it can tell the exact region that customers of a certain store frequent from their shopping records and positional information of mobile phones. In addition, it will serve efficient and effective delivery of rescue supply to the evacuation center in a time of disaster.