Entry Name: "MIDD-Andrews-MC1"
VAST Challenge
2015
Mini-Challenge 1
Team Members:
Christopher Andrews, Middlebury College,
candrews@middlebury.edu PRIMARY
Julian Billings, Middlebury College, jabillings@middlebury.edu
Student
Team: HALF
Did
you use data from both mini-challenges? NO
Analytic Tools Used:
Middguard, a framework developed by Professor Andrews and his students, as well as D3.js, Postgresql
Approximately how many hours were spent working on
this submission in total?
350
May we post your submission in the Visual Analytics
Benchmark Repository after VAST Challenge 2015 is complete? YES
Video:
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Questions
MC1.1 – Characterize
the attendance at DinoFun World on this weekend.
Describe up to twelve different types of groups at the park on this
weekend.
a.
How
big is this type of group?
b.
Where
does this type of group like to go in the park?
c.
How
common is this type of group?
d.
What
are your other observations about this type of group?
e.
What
can you infer about this type of group?
f.
If
you were to make one improvement to the park to better meet this group’s needs,
what would it be?
Limit your response to no more than 12 images and 1000 words.
Category 1: Creepy People
a. This type of group contains one person
b. He/she tends to hang out around rides that
children might go on and at shows/entertainment venues
c. We’ve identified 31 such groups
d. At the very least we can infer that this group
is not interested in rides, and their behavior suggest
that they may be criminals
e. This group seems very suspicious, and we suggest
that the park take more measures to ensure security
Category 2: Nappers
a. Around 2-8 people
b. These groups have mixed behavior, but many of
them seem to spend a significant amount of time on rides. The common behavior
is a break of about 1.5-2 hours starting between 2pm and 3pm. Most of the
groups (42/46) are staying in one of the two lodgings.
c. 46 identified
d. We can guess that these groups tend to be
families, as their focus on rides implies they may have children, and the
breaks seem likely to be nap times.
e. The introduction of a quiet area might benefit
these families, especially those who are not staying on site.
Category 3: Return Alones
a. 1 person
b. This group has no consistent pattern of park travel
that we know of
c. 595 identified
d. We can infer that these people decided to come
back to the park alone after coming with friends/family before, perhaps because
their tickets are still valid for the weekend. We can also see that none of
these people initially came with any of the large ‘tour groups’
e. To improve their experience, we might ensure
that there are ‘singles lanes’ in the lines for rides.
Category 4: Grinosaurus
Stage Participants
a. 8 people
b. This group goes to Grinosaurus
stage and nowhere else, and they only go for the showtimes
c. 1 identified
d. We can infer that this group consists of people
who are participants in whatever event/show occurs at Grinosaurus
stage
e. To improve their experience, we could offer more
complimentary perks to them
Category 5: Teen School Group
a. 30 people
b. This group goes mostly to rides (excluding
Kiddie Rides), but doesn’t spend too much time in any one place. They walk a
fair amount and do NOT go to any of the beer gardens, and they go home early
c. 1 identified
d. We can infer that this is some sort of
teen/preteen school/camp group based on the rides they take and their schedule
e. We suggest the park encourages large groups to split up to
reduce waiting times for groups like this. The group seemed to cross the park
walking to each activity/event and we might help them save walking time by
providing suggested itineraries.
Category 6: Families leaving the park for meals
a. 2-6 members
b. The group leaves the park twice a day at noon
and then at 6pm, and does not frequent restaurants on site. Nearly all of them
are staying in the lodge or camp ground.
c. 14 identified
d. The timing and duration of their exits coupled
with the lack of restaurants stops make it likely that they are eating meals
outside of the park.
e. A picnic area might encourage these visitors to stay in
the park.
Category 7: Eastern European Families
a. 3-6 people
b. This group leaves the park for 3 periods (11ish,
2ish, 7ish) during the day, and tends to spend little if any time at
restaurants
c. 6 identified
d. We can infer that these are Eastern European
families based on their presumed dining schedule, which we can glean from the
times of their exits and their sparse restaurant attendance
e. Adding a picnic area would make it more convenient for
these groups to remain in the park as well.
Category 8: Large, Young Tour Groups
a. 30-44 members
b. These groups tend to go to the Beer Gardens
several times per day, and several of them are ride focused. All of these
groups only come for a single day, and all who can attend go to the afternoon Grinosaurus Stage show
c. 30 identified
d. Based on their beer consumption and preference
for rides, we infer that these groups are mostly full of younger adults
(20s/30s)
e. We
suggest organizing more events for these groups
Category 9: Night Owls
a. 2-5 members
b. These groups come from around 6PM to closing
time, and they always come for exactly one night. About a third of them make a
stop at the arcade and only three stop at a Beer Garden
c. 28 identified
d. We can infer that these are older teenagers
based on the time they arrive and their choice of activities
e. We suggest offering discounted admission to
teens/students and/or the after-6PM crowd
Category 10: Binge Eaters/Drinkers
a. 2-11 members
b. These groups have at least 1 day where they
‘binge’ out by eating and drinking for roughly 3 hrs. straight
among 3+ establishments. This binge is almost always in the afternoon
c. 255 identified
d. We can infer that they like to eat and drink
e. We suggest that the park adds more sedentary
events so these people have somewhere to go after bingeing
Category 11: Call it a Day Early
a. 2-7 members
b. Many of this group on come
one day, most of them come on Saturday and Sunday. These groups all leave at
1:30PM. They tend to do 1 or 2 things for a long time, or several things for
short periods of time
c. 38 identified
d. Given the typical group
size and the choice of activities, we can infer that these are families with
preteens: old enough for the big rides, young enough to not spend the whole day
e. We suggest offering half-day prices for this
group of people, and reworking the ride check-ins to ensure less waiting
MC1.2 – Are there notable differences in the patterns
of activity on in the park across the three days? Please describe the notable difference you
see.
Limit your
response to no more than 3 images and 300 words.
1. The attendance seems to increase as the weekend goes
on. The number of groups at the park grows with each passing day.
2. Nearly every “individual”
group (i.e. someone who goes to the park alone on some day(s)) is active on
Sunday (so they may have also gone to the park with or without others on Friday
or Saturday), whereas on Friday and Saturday a significantly smaller percentage
of the “individual” groups are active.
MC1.3 – What anomalies or unusual patterns do you
see? Describe no more than 10 anomalies, and prioritize those unusual patterns
that you think are most likely to be relevant to the crime.
Limit your
response to no more than 10 images and 500 words.
1. On both Friday
and Saturday the Creighton Pavilion seems to be nearly empty between 10AM and
11:30AM. On Sunday there are few people
there in that time period as well, but unlike Friday and Saturday where the
Pavilion holds a significant number of people between 11:30AM and about 2:30PM,
at 12PM on Sunday everyone leaves the pavilion for some reason. Based on the
former pattern and the latter anomaly, we have inferred that the crime at the
Pavilion occurred in the 10-11:30AM time period and that at around 12PM
everyone was forced to leave the Pavilion because the crime had been noticed.
The anomalous fact that the Sunday afternoon show at Grinosaurus
stage was cancelled further supports the idea that the crime occurred earlier
that day, but not early enough to cancel the earlier show.
2. There are 3
people who fall into the “Creepy People” category mentioned above who all enter
and leave the Creighton Pavilion, where the crime occurred, between the hours
of 10:00 AM and 11:30 AM, the time in which the crime occurred. There is no
show going on at that time so it is a little odd for them to go into the
building and stay there for more than a minute or two during this period.
3. The person with ID 898576 has some
anomalous behavior, as he/she never moves after 10:19AM according to the data.
This seems unlikely, and the fact that his position is lost right before the
period in which the crime occurs is suspicious. (Did he/she intentionally ‘lose’
his cellphone to cover his/her tracks, perhaps?) This person is extra
suspicious because the Creighton Pavilion is the last place at the park he/she
visits the day before; perhaps the visit served to motivate the crime.
4. Person 657863 spends the night at
the park according to the data, which is obviously an anomaly, but a likely
explanation is that he/she dropped his/her cell phone and retrieved it the next
morning.
5. One group of 7 people spends about
6 hours in the bathroom.
