New HEAL Study: Everyday Mobility and a Comparative Analysis of Positioning Errors in GPS Devices

• Post by: Anastasia Soukhov
• 2:36PM Jul 24, 2026
• No Comment

A team of HEAL researchers, led by Shiran Zhong with Alexander Wray, Jed Long, and Jason Gilliland, recently published a new article, “A Comparative Analysis of Positioning Errors in 4G and 5G Smartphones, and Standalone GPS Devices, in Everyday Mobility Scenarios,” in the Journal of Spatial Information Science. 

This study provides a systematic evaluation of the positioning accuracy of 5G smartphones compared with 4G smartphones and standalone GPS devices under everyday mobility conditions. Data were collected from 27 HEAL members while walking, cycling, and driving on and near the Western University campus across five environmental contexts: open spaces, between buildings, under tree canopy, indoors, and underground. The study shows that 5G smartphones consistently outperform both 4G smartphones and standalone GPS devices, particularly in challenging environments such as indoors and underground. The findings demonstrate the growing potential of 5G smartphones as reliable tools for collecting high-quality mobility data, expanding opportunities for research in health geography, urban planning, transportation, and other spatial sciences. 

We would like to thank all HEAL members who volunteered to participate in the study and assisted with data collection by walking, cycling, and driving the study routes throughout the data collection period. 

Citation 

Zhong, S., Wray, A., Long, J., & Gilliland, J. (2026). A comparative analysis of positioning errors in 4G and 5G smartphones, and standalone GPS devices, in everyday mobility scenarios. Journal of Spatial Information Science, 32, 95–116. https://doi.org/10.5311/JOSIS.2026.32.551