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Introduction
A global, decentralized mapping network for everyone.
Building a better map, together
Maps are one of the most important human inventions.
Ever since our ancestors started painting on cave walls, humans have used maps to share what we learn about our world. Mapmaking technologies have rapidly improved over the past few decades, making it easy for anyone with a smartphone to learn about the world around them. Billions of people around the world now use mapping apps every day.
High-quality maps are also crucial to public and private enterprises. That includes the transportation and logistics industries, as well as sectors such as insurance, real estate, utilities, and government. Analysts estimate the mapping industry has a market size of $200B to $300B, including mapping apps and APIs, geospatial analytics, GIS, and data collection services.
Typical mapmaking methods, such as relying on dedicated vehicles to collect road-level imagery and positioning data, are very expensive. As a result, mapmaking is consolidated among a few companies with the resources to reach global scale.
And yet, most roads are driven every day. In the United States alone, humans drove 3.26 trillion miles in 2022, or 8.9 billion miles per day. So why can’t we collect the map data as a community?
The Hivemapper Network, launched in November 2022, is an open, global, and decentralized mapping network that uses AI to build a map based on the driving we do everyday.
Thanks to its vibrant community of builders, the Hivemapper Network collects millions of kilometers of road-level imagery every week.
Today’s maps are great, but far from perfect.
- Expensive for businesses - While maps are generally free for consumers, organizations pay to integrate maps into their products. With so few choices for reliable maps, monopoly pricing makes it difficult for organizations and independent developers to afford map data.
- Uneven coverage and freshness - Typical methods of collecting map data are very expensive, so it is difficult for even the best-funded companies to reach global scale. As a result, map data quickly becomes stale and developing markets are often under-mapped.
- Data without remuneration - Modern mapmaking relies on large amounts of user-generated data. Many mapmakers collect location data and imagery from users without compensating them. In some cases, mapmakers are not transparent about how user data is commercialized.
- Prone to censorship - Maps can be used to exercise power by shaping what people know about the world. Some map developers allow their maps to be manipulated and censored to protect business interests and appease governments in regions where they operate.
The design of the Hivemapper Network helps to address all four problems.
Contributors can collect high-quality, street-level imagery with dashcams. They can also play AI Trainer games to edit the map and improve machine learning models.
In return for their efforts, contributors are rewarded with a digital token called HONEY that can be redeemed to access map data. This model allows the economic benefits of the global mapping network to be shared with the people who build the map.
The Hivemapper Network is designed from the ground up to be:
- Decentralized - This helps the Hivemapper Network to remain fair and open. Along with engaged members of the community, the Hivemapper Foundation will help maintain the decentralized mapping network and support an open-source ecosystem, including releasing source code and materials for hardware and software projects.
- Permissionless - Anybody, anywhere can contribute to the Hivemapper Network or consume data from it, as long as they adhere to basic rules. They do not need permission to do so.
- Rewards-based - Contributors to the global map receive HONEY, Hivemapper’s token, which allows them to share the economic benefits of map development.
The documentation in this repository is intended to help people learn how to contribute to the mapping network and how to consume Hivemapper data. If you can’t find what you need, feel free to join our Discord community or send the development team an email at [email protected].
Thank you for being a part of the future of maps. Happy Hivemapping!
Last modified 6d ago