Our Mission
We want to boldly go where few have gone before:
- To advance theoretical knowledge related to behavior and system dynamics of Smart Cities. Especially, finding sustainable long-term mobility solutions by gaining better insights on how to change human behaviors with future & emerging technologies.
- To establish new methodologies and develop models for studying Smart Cities based on immersive serious games and game-based simulation models where human players and artificial intelligent agents interact in a virtual reality (VR) environment.
Head
I am an Associate Prof at the Dept. of Geography and Environmental Development Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and head of the GAMES (Game-based models) lab. I have a Ph.D. in Transportation Science, M.Sc (Cum Laude) in Urban Planning from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and a BA (Magna Cum Laude) in Economics and Political Science from Tel Aviv University. My research interests lie in understanding the complexity of spatial systems (urban transportation), digital and emerging technologies, and human behavior. My research applies game-based experiments in virtual reality (VR) and agent-based simulation models to study the co-evolutionary dynamics between reinforced spatial behaviors (route and mode choice) and derived system states including the use of innovative concepts to change behaviors and improve the overall performance of the system. One recent research area is using future ICT concepts to initiate user cooperation on route selection for improving traffic flow, increasing public transport usage, and persuading widescale ridesharing in an age of autonomous vehicles. Other research areas include modeling and evaluating travelers’ accessibility and the adaptation of public transport systems to users’ spatial attributes using digital information sources from GIS, mobile phones, and smartcards. My research has wide implications for mobility and transport planning in smart cities applications. My long-term goal is to develop a new modeling approach for complex spatial systems based on game-based models incorporating simultaneously human players and intelligent artificial avatars in one evolutionary simulation system.
Eran Be-Elia CV
Recent lecture: https://goo.gl/GgXiaw
podcast: podcast 2018
Contact: benelia@bgu.ac.il
Recent activities:
**International Member — Standing Committee on Effects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on Travel Choices — ADB20