VDIM: Vector-based Diffusion and Interpolation Matrix for Computing Region-based Crowdsourced Ratings: Towards Safe Route Selection for Human Navigation

When users consult a trip planner, map or navigation sys- tem for directions, they are presented with several route options which often are evaluated based on shortest path or shortest duration. However, in some cases, users may re- quire the choices of route to be evaluated on other criteria, such as safest route, particularly if users are new visitors to the city. With recent introductions of different platforms to crowdsource public experience and perceptions of safety, this data can be used to calculate safe route selection. However, such user generated contents are often inconsistent, sparse, or may not have a complete spatial coverage. This paper proposes Vector-based Diffusion and Interpolation Matrix (VDIM), a novel method to diffuse and interpolate informa- tion on spatial grid cells to calculate safety ratings of regions, which could be used to calculate the route safety.