UbiActive: Smartphone-Based Tool for Trip Detection and Travel-Related Physical Activity Assessment

Utilizing the computing, communication, and sensing capabilities of smartphones, we developed an Android phone application—named UbiActive—to monitor travel behavior, assess travel-related physical activity, and generate daily activity summaries for smartphone users. We tested the application in the lab setting on three types of Android phones including HTC Magic, HTC MyTouch 4G, and SamSung Nexus S, as well as among a small group of real smartphone users who used a wide range of Android phones. Results from the tests confirmed that UbiActive worked well in collecting real-time travel behavior and physical activity data, assessing travel-related physical activity, and making participants more aware of their travel behavior and travel-related physical activity. The tests also revealed rooms for improvement when it came to UbiActive’s trip detection function and its impact on batter consumption. All of these findings provide useful insights into future improvement of UbiActive and other smartphone-based applications.