Constrained free space diagrams: a tool for trajectory analysis

We propose a new and powerful tool for the analysis of trajectories, which in particular allows for more temporally aware analyses. Time plays an important role in the analysis of moving object data. For many applications it is neither sufficient to only compare objects at exactly the same times, nor to consider only the geometry of the trajectories. We show how to leverage between these two approaches by extending a tool from curve analysis, the free space diagram. Our approach also allows to take further attributes of the objects like speed or direction into account. We demonstrate the usefulness of the new tool by applying it to the problem of detecting single file movement. A single file is a set of moving entities, which are following each other, one behind the other. This is the first algorithm for detecting this movement pattern. For this application, we analyse and demonstrate the performance of our tool both theoretically and experimentally.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: GIS
• Authors: Kevin Buchin, Maike Buchin, Joachim Gudmundsson
• Keywords: Analysis, Automated Reasoning, GIS 2010, Powerful Tool, Tool