A Framework To Extract Trip Informatics For Individuals And Groups Using Mobile Sensory Data In Mass Gathering Events

Massive gatherings require hosting authorities to plan and deploy extensive arrangements to facilitate attendees while considering crowd safety the core objective. The task becomes more challenging when crowd is diverse in terms of language, culture, ethics and age-group. Hajj is an annual event where more than 2 million pilgrims from all over the world, gather in Makkah Al-Mukarramah to perform a series of spatio-temporal rituals. To plan and execute the event, the management needs to understand the behavior of both individuals and groups of pilgrims belonging to different nationalities. In this paper, we proposed a big data framework that collects mobile sensory data from all pilgrims by providing them location-based context-aware services through a mobile application. We utilize the collected data to study pedestrians' flow rate, mobility patterns for individuals and groups and their behaviour and preferences during movement. The extracted information can be analyzed to propose solutions to crowd related challenges, including mobility schedules, crowd modelling and simulation and emergency evacuation plans.