Returners and explorers dichotomy in human mobility.
The availability of massive digital traces of human whereabouts has offered a series of novel insights on the quantitative patterns characterizing human mobility. In particular, numerous recent studies have lead to an unexpected consensus: the considerable variability in the characteristic travelled distance of individuals coexists with a high degree of predictability of their future locations. Here we shed light on this surprising coexistence by systematically investigating the impact of recurrent mobility on the characteristic distance travelled by individuals. Using both mobile phone and GPS data, we discover the existence of two distinct classes of individuals: returners and explorers. As existing models of human mobility cannot explain the existence of these two classes, we develop more realistic models able to capture the empirical findings. Finally, we show that returners and explorers play a distinct quantifiable role in spreading phenomena and that a correlation exists between their mobility patterns and social interactions.
Institute of Information Science and Technology (ISTI), National Research Council (CNR), Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.|Department of Computer Science, University of Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy.|Center of Network Science, Central European University, Nador u. 9, 1051 Budapest, Hungary.|Institute of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budafoki u. 8, 1521 Budapest, Hungary.
Luca
L
Pappalardo
Institute of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budafoki u. 8, 1521 Budapest, Hungary.|Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Merchant Venturers Building, Woodland Road, BS8 1UB Bristol, UK.|CCNR and Physics Department, Northeastern University, 110 Forsyth Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Filippo
F
Simini
Institute of Information Science and Technology (ISTI), National Research Council (CNR), Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
Salvatore
S
Rinzivillo
Institute of Information Science and Technology (ISTI), National Research Council (CNR), Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.|Department of Computer Science, University of Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy.
Dino
D
Pedreschi
Institute of Information Science and Technology (ISTI), National Research Council (CNR), Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
Fosca
F
Giannotti
Center of Network Science, Central European University, Nador u. 9, 1051 Budapest, Hungary.|CCNR and Physics Department, Northeastern University, 110 Forsyth Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.|Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck street, Boston, Massachusetts 56124, USA.
Albert-László
AL
Barabási
D040421:Cell Phone; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012919:Social Behavior; D014195:Travel