BGU Research Can Predict Gender of Smartphone Users
BGU Research Can Predict Gender of Smartphone Users
May 20, 2015
The Jerusalem Post — BGU systems engineers have developed an algorithm that can predict (with up to 92 percent accuracy) whether the user of a given smartphone app is a man or a woman using the phone’s motion sensors.
Dr. Asaf Shabtai, from BGU’s Department of Information Systems Engineering and his student, Itay Hazan, say that the algorithm detects specific movements – for example, holding the device upside down in a pants pocket or putting it into a purse – and determine the likely gender according to the distribution of the various motions, counting the number of times the user has held the device in a particular way.
The formula can be integrated into any app in the Google Play store and can provide a well-founded prediction of the user’s gender from the moment installation completes – without invading their privacy.
Knowing the user’s gender can help the app companies disseminate advertising and marketing content to male and female audiences by personalizing the ads and content.
Until now, algorithms have used text analysis of material written by phone owners to figure out if they are male or female, but this method can infringe on users’ privacy.
After testing their methods on actual devices, Dr. Shabtai and his team discovered previously unknown patterns of use among men and women. For example, men tend to download more apps, heavier apps (50 MB and up), and more paid apps than women do.
The full methodology and results will be displayed at the annual MobileSoft conference for mobile research and development.
Read more on The Jerusalem Post website >>
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