OpenStreetCam sign detection code and training data open sourced | Hacker News Reader

OpenStreetCam sign detection code and training data open sourced

openstreetmap.org

76 pointsmvexel6 comments

Very interesting, but unfortunately the one example they pulled was incorrect. If you look at the street sign is says "Exit | 45 mph", which means this is the speed limit when taking the exit. The captured example looses this information.

Yes, interesting. Thanks for pointing that out. This indicates that there is work to do. All the more reason to open source it.

which means this is the speed limit when taking the exit.

And it's not even the speed limit, it's the recommended speed for that exit. IOW, go as fast as you like, right up to the posted speed limit, but if you're a tall semi hauling a load it is recommended that you slow to the speed posted on the yellow sign. But I digress...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advisory_speed_limit#Signage

This is really promising, especially:

> Finally: we do not have any plans to automatically add any of this detected information to OSM. Any improvements will always be made manually by mappers through the existing JOSM plugin, iD integration (coming) and MapRoulette.

This points the way forward for OSM. OSM is a human map made from user contributions - the collected set of users' enthusiasms. That's what differentiates it from other maps. But that shouldn't mean that mapping should be a laborious process. The more innovations like this that remove the gruntwork from mapping, the better. (Same applies to recognising geometries from imagery and sensor data, etc.)

Couldn't agree more. One of the most startling things for me while mapping is just how different things can be when you're actually on the ground and armed with local knowledge compared to looking at some satellite imagery, streetview imagery or similar. It's totally obvious why any map that is automatically derived from relatively low resolution data will necessarily contain mistakes.

A map is one of the oldest forms of written communication. Some people think maps came before written language and as such are an intrinsic part of what it means to be human. Just think of the amount of information being conveyed by a map! We don't accept computers making other written works, why accept computers making our maps?

Have been an Openstreemaps contributor for some years (not very active), but I did not heard about Openstreetcam. Interesting!

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