A Study of Information Seeking Behavior Using Physical and Online Explorations

People have their behavioral patterns, through which they determine how to seek and use information. People also exhibit established mobility pattern in their everyday lives. Meanwhile, the modern technologies such as smartphones, wearable devices, and eye trackers have allowed researchers to collect personal, contextual, and cognitive information of users, and create behavioral models from different perspectives. Considering the analogy between information exploration and geographical exploration, I want to identify the interconnections between these behaviors and predict individuals? search behavior using personal and contextual signals. The proposal uses a mixed-method approach that involves a four-week field study, a game study, and a lab study, collecting data from 40 participants through mobile device, eye tracker, online logs, and weekly diary.