I am a Senior Lecturer 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 PhD 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 behaviours (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 modelling 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 developing a new modeling approach for complex spatial systems based on game-base models incorporating simultaneously human players and intelligent artificial avatars in one evolutionary simulation system.
Recent activities:
**International Member — Standing Committee on Effects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on Travel Choices — ADB20