Hivemapper

TL;DR

Hivemapper is building a decentralized global mapping network on Solana that incentivizes individuals to collect fresh, high-quality map data using dashcams. Contributors earn HONEY tokens for the imagery they capture, with rewards weighted based on factors like location novelty and image quality. Hivemapper aims to disrupt the traditional mapping industry dominated by Google by providing access to more up-to-date, high-resolution maps for use cases like logistics and augmented reality.

What is Hivemapper?

Hivemapper is a decentralized mapping network that leverages a global community of contributors to collect street-level imagery and map data. Contributors equip their vehicles with specialized Hivemapper dashcams that capture their surroundings as they drive. This imagery is then processed by Hivemapper using computer vision and machine learning to generate highly detailed, accurate 3D maps of the world.

The collected map data is made available to consumers through Hivemapper's suite of mapping APIs. Developers can access fresh, high-resolution map imagery, road network data, point clouds and more to power applications across industries like logistics, augmented reality, urban planning, and more.

What makes Hivemapper unique is its decentralized, community-driven approach powered by blockchain technology and the HONEY token economy. While companies like Google Maps rely on their own fleet of mapping vehicles that infrequently update data, Hivemapper incentivizes a global network of individual contributors to continuously map their local areas. This crowdsourced model allows Hivemapper to update maps far more frequently, at a lower cost, and have coverage of areas often neglected by the tech giants.

How Hivemapper Works

Anyone can contribute to building Hivemapper's decentralized map of the world. The key steps are:

1. Get a Hivemapper Dashcam - Hivemapper has designed specialized dashcams like the Hivemapper Dashcam Pro that contributors can easily mount on their vehicles to collect imagery.

2. Drive and Map - As contributors drive, the Hivemapper dashcam will automatically capture street-level imagery and upload it to the network using an integrated cellular connection.

3. Earn HONEY - Contributors are rewarded with Hivemapper's cryptocurrency token HONEY based on the value of the map data they collect. Rewards are weighted based on factors like the novelty of the location mapped, image quality, and more.

The collected imagery and sensor data from contributors is then ingested by Hivemapper's mapping pipeline. Using sophisticated computer vision and machine learning models, Hivemapper is able to accurately detect and classify objects, reconstruct 3D scenes, and extract map features like road networks, lane information, speed limits and more. This map data is then served to consumers through Hivemapper's APIs.

Earning with Hivemapper

For contributors, Hivemapper represents an opportunity to earn cryptocurrency simply by driving. There are several key ways to maximize HONEY earnings as a contributor:

• Drive in areas that are mapped less frequently, like rural areas, to earn novelty bonuses
• Maintain your Hivemapper dashcam to ensure the highest quality imagery
• Drive during different times of day and in varying weather/seasonal conditions
• Complete mapping missions and bounties for specific high-priority areas

In the future, contributors will also be able to earn by performing quality assurance tasks like verifying map data and completing missing information like business hours of operation, speed limits, and more.

The amount of HONEY tokens earned scales with the growth and coverage of the Hivemapper network. As Hivemapper expands globally and more consumers utilize the map data, HONEY rewards will increase, creating a positive feedback loop and aligning incentives between contributors and the long-term value of the network.

Hivemapper's HONEY Token

HONEY is the native utility token of the Hivemapper network used to incentivize and reward contributors. The total supply of HONEY is fixed at 10 billion tokens, with 35% allocated to the community of contributors.

Consumers who wish to access Hivemapper's map data pay for API credits using HONEY tokens. As the usage and revenue from Hivemapper's APIs grows, it feeds back into the contributor rewards pool. This creates a sustainable economy where the value generated by selling map data is shared with the community that collects it.

HONEY tokens are rewarded to contributors based on a number of factors evaluated by the network for each data upload:

• Novelty - how recently that area was last mapped
• Reputation - contributor's history of high-quality data collection
• Clarity - quality of the imagery submitted based on computer vision analysis
• Bounty - specific rewards for mapping high-priority areas in the network

This tokenomic design ensures that contributors are incentivized not just to map more, but to provide the highest value data to the network based on recency, quality, and location. Over time, the Hivemapper token economy will grow to encompass more ways to earn and utilize HONEY across the ecosystem.

Hivemapper's Unique Approach

Hivemapper's decentralized approach to mapping powered by crypto incentives is a radical departure from the traditional mapping industry. For decades, mapping has been dominated by tech giants like Google who pour billions of dollars into building and maintaining their own mapping fleets and data collection efforts.

However, this centralized approach has limitations. Maintaining mapping vehicles is extremely expensive, so data coverage is limited and updates are infrequent, especially outside of major cities. Google's Street View cars may only update imagery of a road once every 1-2 years. Less populated areas and developing markets are often neglected completely.

Hivemapper's crowdsourced data collection model is far more scalable and cost-effective. By incentivizing individuals to collect map data during their normal daily driving, Hivemapper can achieve much wider and more up-to-date coverage. Roads are mapped continuously by the fleet of Hivemapper dashcams, keeping data fresh.

Beyond just saving costs, this also opens up access to better mapping data. Hivemapper provides high-resolution, 4K 360-degree street-level imagery, 3D point clouds, and rich semantic data like speed limits and lane information. With more granular and up-to-date information, Hivemapper enables new possibilities for applications in verticals like logistics, augmented reality, robotics, and more.

The Team Behind Hivemapper

Hivemapper was founded in 2015 by Ariel Seidman, a veteran entrepreneur and mapping expert. Prior to Hivemapper, Seidman led Yahoo Maps where he saw firsthand how difficult it was to compete with Google's mapping efforts. This inspired him to rethink the approach to collecting map data.

Seidman is joined by an experienced team of mapping and computer vision experts, including CTO Evan Moss who previously worked on Maps and Earth at Google. Advisors to the project include Amir Haleem, CEO and co-founder of Helium.

Hivemapper has raised over $23 million in funding from leading investors including Multicoin Capital, Spark Capital, Founder Collective, and more. The project has strong support from the Solana ecosystem with participation from Solana Ventures.

What's Next for Hivemapper

Hivemapper is currently in open beta with coverage across major metropolitan areas in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Anyone can start contributing to the network today using approved dashcams like the Hivemapper Dashcam, Vantrue OnDash S1, or BlackVue DR750X Plus.

The project is working to rapidly scale its contributor community and coverage in 2024. Hivemapper plans to roll out the ability for contributors to earn for data verification tasks, empowering the community to help validate and improve maps. New APIs and data products are in development to serve more mapping use cases.

On the hardware front, Hivemapper is developing the next version of its own Hivemapper Dashcam Pro with 5G connectivity and integrated Solana crypto wallet for seamless token rewards. The team is also working on an augmented reality mapping kit to enable the collection of precise 3D spatial data.

In the long term, Hivemapper's vision is to build a community owned and operated mapping network that is open and accessible to all. With every mile driven, the Hivemapper community is taking back control of one of the most important datasets in the world and pioneering a new model for creating public goods powered by crypto.

Conclusion

Hivemapper is on a mission to revolutionize the way maps are created and monetized. By combining the power of computer vision, blockchain, and crowdsourcing, Hivemapper is creating a decentralized global mapping network that is more scalable, up-to-date, and accessible than ever before.

For individuals, Hivemapper presents an opportunity to earn cryptocurrency simply by driving and contributing fresh map data to the network. For businesses and developers, the project offers a rich set of mapping APIs with the unique advantages of real-time freshness and global coverage.

Hivemapper is a perfect example of how crypto incentives can be used to bootstrap physical infrastructure and create new economic models for public goods. Built on Solana, it showcases the power of the network for real-world use cases at scale.

As Hivemapper continues to grow its contributor community and rollout new capabilities, it has the potential to become the go-to decentralized mapping platform powering applications across augmented reality, robotics, smart cities, and more. We're excited to follow Hivemapper's journey as it works to achieve its ambitious vision.