{"id":2861,"date":"2015-01-09T04:44:51","date_gmt":"2015-01-09T04:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=2861"},"modified":"2016-08-02T16:34:24","modified_gmt":"2016-08-02T16:34:24","slug":"how-and-why-google-is-transforming-the-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/how-and-why-google-is-transforming-the-map\/","title":{"rendered":"How \u2013 and why \u2013 Google is transforming the map"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Anthony Stefanidis<\/a>, George Mason University<\/a><\/em>; Andrew Crooks<\/a>, George Mason University<\/a><\/em>, and Arie Croitoru<\/a>, George Mason University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Google has managed to map most of the world. Recently, the company offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse<\/a> into how it\u2019s built the Google Maps application using a combination of technology (the Google Street View car), expansion (the acquisition of satellite-imagery startup Skybox) and algorithms (computer vision, photogrammetry, mapping).<\/p>\n

While the company\u2019s initial focus had been on the world\u2019s population centers (in 2006, Google had used high resolution satellite imagery to map 37% of the world\u2019s population; by 2012 that number had risen to 75%<\/a>), their reach has extended beyond human settlements. In Google Maps’ Street View feature, users can now observe penguins in Antarctica<\/a>, tourists in Machu Picchu, and Himalayan base camps.<\/p>\n

While the early focus of Google\u2019s mapping efforts had been on mapping for<\/em> the world, the company is now jumping on the crowdsourcing bandwagon: to collect mapping data from<\/em> the world.<\/p>\n

With mapping tools like \u201cGoogle Map Maker\u201d and \u201cReport a Problem,\u201d they try to harness the geographical contributions of \u201con the ground\u201d users as a way to complement existing content in Google Maps. People from all over the world<\/a> can now edit information on the Google Maps application to ensure a higher accuracy.<\/p>\n

In addition to being editors, users can also become data collectors. They can carry the Street View Trekker<\/a> (a backpack outfitted with Google\u2019s cameras) to snap images \u2013 later to be uploaded on Street View \u2013 as they hike through US National Parks and the Galapagos islands, or even take camel rides<\/a> to map Abu Dhabi\u2019s sand dunes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Users have participated in Google\u2019s mapping efforts. Here, a bicycle has been outfitted with Google\u2019s sophisticated Street View camera to map a bike path.<\/span>
\nTyler Howarth\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Think of it as a collaborative, Wikipedia-like effort to map the physical world.<\/p>\n

But while we know how<\/em> Google does it, another question has emerged: why<\/em> is Google devoting so many resources to \u201cpaint the world\u2026one pixel to the inch\u201d (as one Google employee put it<\/a>)?<\/p>\n

Throughout history, maps evolved as an outgrowth of humankind\u2019s yearning to both explore and record the physical world. First there was a 7,000 BCE wall painting in Catal Huyuk (in southern Anatolia) that depicted an erupting volcano and a map of that settlement\u2019s town plan. More than 6,000 years later, in 600 BCE, Anaximander drew up a world map, followed by the creation of a coordinate system by Eratosthenes and the gazetteer by Ptolemy (300 BCE and 200 AD, respectively).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

A recreation of Anaximander\u2019s map, one of the first attempts to map the world.<\/span>
\nWikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Maps have always been about depicting the world and helping us navigate through it. And Google Maps does this: it does show us where things are in the world and it does help us navigate. In fact, it already provides such support to an estimated one billion worldwide users<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But other solutions do the same for a much lower cost. OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a nonprofit effort founded around ten years ago as a way to invite the general public to map the world. Tracing the centerlines of roads and the outlines of buildings \u2013 and even mapping park benches and bicycle routes \u2013 volunteers have generated a mapping product of global coverage, freely available through an Open Database License (ODbL). OSM compares well in terms of accuracy to its more authoritative, better-funded counterparts. A wonderful map produced by Martin Raifer<\/a> shows the astonishing global coverage offered today by OSM. In a recent New York Times article<\/a> it was reported that OSM runs on less than $100,000 a year, which is certainly dwarfed by Google Maps’ budget.<\/p>\n

So why does Google appear to be doing slightly more while spending much, much more? The answer probably lies on the intended use of the product. OSM is a cartographic product. Google Maps is much more that that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Like older maps, Google Maps also depicts spaces to help users navigate. The company, however, has grander plans.<\/span>
\nCC BY-NC-SA<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

For Google, cartography is not the end product, but rather the necessary means for future products.<\/p>\n

Take, for instance, Google\u2019s autonomous car initiative<\/a>, which aims to combine sensors, GPS and 3D maps to develop self-driving cars. Then there\u2019s Google\u2019s Project Wing: a drone-based delivery systems that hopes to make use of a detailed 3D model of the world to quickly link supply to demand \u2013 and shatter the current retail paradigm.<\/p>\n

In both cases, Google Maps serves as the digital framework in which these fledgling technologies operate \u2013 a foundation for Google as it seeks to revolutionize the mobility of people, goods, and even ideas. In other words, Google\u2019s mapping data will support a wide variety of its new products, whether they\u2019re self-driving cars or drones.<\/p>\n

While OSM is about mapping the world around us, Google Maps takes it a step further: ultimately, Google Maps is about mapping lives and merging the physical and the virtual. The application collects information about us<\/em>: the physical pathways that we follow \u2013 either on foot or in a car \u2013 and the digital traces we leave behind: photographs we\u2019ve snapped, purchases we\u2019ve made, and activities we\u2019ve participated in.<\/p>\n

This information can then be used to understand how we function in this newly emerging hybrid universe.<\/p>\n

In that sense, Google is mapping places<\/em> rather than simply mapping spaces. Loosely defined in the context of this article, the idea of place is the meaning, or significance, that certain locations hold for us. This could mean our home neighborhood, or a dangerous part of the city where we rarely venture; it could refer to our favorite nightlife hotspots, or where we buy our groceries.<\/p>\n

By connecting the geometrical content of its Google Maps databases to digital traces that it collects, Google can assign meaning to space, transforming it into place. While Google\u2019s stated objective is \u201cto organize the world\u2019s information and make it universally accessible and useful,\u201d its Google Maps endeavor allows it to organize your<\/em> world\u2019s information, making it personally accessible and useful.<\/p>\n

Therefore one could argue that Google\u2019s vision for its map goes far beyond the traditional one. Yes, the map serves not only as a way to capture space; but it also exists as a framework for empowering human life and everyday activities. By combining the power of high resolution mapping, digital human traces, and smart machines, Google has the ability to revolutionize the underpinnings of the modern lifestyle: communication, mobility, consumption, and production.<\/p>\n

Mapping by machines no longer simply addresses the age-old task of \u201cyou are here,\u201d but rather seeks to understand who you are and where you should be heading.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the era of map ex machina.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>.
\nRead the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Anthony Stefanidis, George Mason University; Andrew Crooks, George Mason University, and Arie Croitoru, George Mason University Google has managed to map most of the world. Recently, the company offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how it\u2019s built the Google Maps application using a combination of technology (the Google Street View car), expansion (the acquisition of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":5081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,276],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2861"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2861"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5082,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2861\/revisions\/5082"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}