Tonetto et al. EPJ Data Science (2021)10:10 https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-021-00266-x REGULAR ARTICLE OpenAccess The mobility laws of location-based games Leonardo Tonetto1* ,EemilLagerspetz2,AaronYiDing3,JörgOtt1, Sasu Tarkoma2 and Petteri Nurmi2 *Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract 1Techinical University of Munich, Boltzmannstrasse 3, 85748 Garching Mobility is a fundamental characteristic of human society that shapes various aspects bei München, Germany of our everyday interactions. This pervasiveness of mobility makes it paramount to Full list of author information is understand factors that govern human movement and how it varies across available at the end of the article individuals. Currently, factors governing variations in personal mobility are understudied with existing research focusing on explaining the aggregate behaviour of individuals. Indeed, empirical studies have shown that the aggregate behaviour of individuals follows a truncated Lévy-flight model, but little understanding exists of the laws that govern intra-individual variations in mobility resulting from transportation choices, social interactions, and exogenous factors such as location-based mobile applications. Understanding these variations is essential for improving our collective understanding of human mobility, and the factors governing it. In this article, we study the mobility laws of location-based gaming—an emerging and increasingly popular exogenous factor influencing personal mobility. We analyse the mobility changes considering the popular