Researchers at
Carnegie Mellon's
School of Computer Science have developed a program they're calling Livehoods, which organizes "check-ins" from the popular social networking site
Foursquare into a cultural database of local habits and trends.
Livehoods' organizers say the program provides an opportunity for city planners and others to track and aggregate the real-time cultural habits and diverse makeup of certain neighborhoods, from block to block, and to see how they change over time.
"A lot of people might look at this project and say at first, it's obvious," says Justin Cranshaw, a Ph.D. student at CMU and one of the project's leading researchers. "Maybe it's obvious to locals, but to people unfamiliar with that part of the city, this [provides] an accurate snapshot of what's really going on."
The program's algorithm examines the check-ins and identifies unique trends pertaining to that particular neighborhood. This information is then mapped to reveal an area's "Livehood," unique to each section of a city, displaying the most popular things to do and places to go. A user can browse the most frequented locations in a certain area, see what kinds of places they are - restaurants, movie theaters, bars, etc. - and learn where people with similar habits are hanging out across the city. ...
