Algorithm for Detecting Significant Locations from Raw GPS Data

We present a fast algorithm for probabilistically extracting significant locations from raw GPS data based on data point density. Extracting significant locations from raw GPS data is the first essential step of algorithms designed for location-aware applications. Assuming that a location is significant if users spend a certain time around that area, most current algorithms compare spatial/temporal variables, such as stay duration and a roaming diameter, with given fixed thresholds to extract significant locations. However, the appropriate threshold values are not clearly known in priori and algorithms with fixed thresholds are inherently error-prone, especially under high noise levels. Moreover, for N data points, they are generally O(N2) algorithms since distance computation is required. We developed a fast algorithm for selective data point sampling around significant locations based on density information by constructing random histograms using locality sensitive hashing. Evaluations show competitive performance in detecting significant locations even under high noise levels.

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