Facebook acquires Mapillary
blog.mapillary.com
blog.mapillary.com
Do you boycott React, which Facebook provides as Open Source as a contribution to the JavaScript ecosystem?
Do you boycott Mapillary, which Facebook provides as Open Data as a contribution to the OpenStreetMap ecosystem? Many parts of the system are Open Source too: https://github.com/mapillary
In these cases, it always seemed to me, as an occasional editor, like the OSM community was maybe overly eager to rely on services provided by external companies with not enough concern given to long-term risks. But beggars can't be chosers of course.
It'd be nice if there was an alternative where it was reasonable to think of the upload as a digital artifact. But there isn't, and street level photos are really useful for improving OSM.
FWIW, "Mapillary’s involvement in OpenStreetMap" part doesn't explain to me what this stuff really has to do with OSM either.
It's too easy to think about the ugly side of this 'incredible journey' than it is to think about any good that will come out of this due to FB being 'FB'.
Given that Google Maps was mainly built directly from street view (and gps) this is important.
Additionally, recently, both fb and mapillary were using ML tech on images and maps to extract info for a kind of automated mapping.
Also I'm quite sure if they hadn't "allow" OSM to use its images, their photo database would have been much smaller.
This is why this argument falls flat.
If FB plans to do shady stuff with Mapillary, they will and there is nothing anybody can do about it...
But if Facebook abided by the OSM licence, but did things the OSM community really didn't like, the OSM project could shun them. Not accept sponsor ship, block FB's RapiD software from making map changes, eject them as a corporate member from the foundation, etc. They'd still be able to use the data, but they'd be a persona non grata.
Nothing would hurt Facebook at all.
Doesn't seem that important (for maps).
One-ways streets, road surfaces, sidewalks, lighting, oneways, shops and restaurants, turn restrictions, max heights below bridges, etc, are stuff that to a large extent come from Mapillary.
Driving wasn't available and that is what I would miss the most. But it isn't dependent on street view either.
They have bought other mapping companies, which on the surface look like they are able to generate city scale point clouds. Combine those with mapillary's very compelling annotation framework, and the resources to do street sign detection, it looks like Facebook/OSM will be able to dramatically lower the cost to entry for people wanting high quality fully featured maps.
This is facebook of course, so it equally turn to shit. But one has to at least hope for a better outcome
Yes, it's on our list to write software to detect such cases.
Mapillary can “journey” wherever they want as long as they don't take me, as their non-user, with them.
Other way round. Facebook pile a bunch of time and tools into OSM maps.
Mapillary is/was a private for profit company that allows people to extract information from their crowd sourced photos and then add it to OpenStreetMap. So a road sign or business name or whatever.
This arrangement encouraged lots of OSM users to contribute photos to Mapillary, as it is a nice way to add information to OSM (and to enable others to add information).
The indirect impact on OSM services is that turning on the view of the Mapillary images in an OSM editor will request that data from Mapillary servers (which are now Facebook servers). So you can go to the OpenStreetMap website and engage in an activity where you request data from Facebook servers. But you have to sign in, activate the editor and then activate the view of the images for that to happen.
A lot of the people that contributed heavily to Mapillary are disappointed with this outcome, as they have strong feelings about Facebook. I've contributed a little bit to Mapillary and will likely continue to do so, as I'm not trying to create an open data street view commons, I'm using it as a convenience.
Attribution on the map is a clear, easy way to meet that bar (and acknowledges the many OSM contributors that see a prominent notice as being necessary to meet the license), but it isn't clear that the court tested bar will be so high.
Note that I'm not drawing "We'll see you in court" as a good way for a company to act towards a community, just commenting on where and how their obligations are defined.
The main website does not at present integrate Mapillary directly. Of course, this could change in future if they decide to make it more interactive, but even then it seems likely that this would only be in the case the user asks to see street-level imagery.
Absolutely not. Mapillary was an independent company. They were very friendly & helpful to the OSM community, and popular amoung OSM contributors, but they were never a "part" of OSM.org.
With Tesla launching Starlink it wouldn't be a surprise with Zuckerberg's competitiveness that he upgrades this specific part in his gameplay.
In the words of Jim Collins to maximize the impact of the limited supply of gunpowder companies should first try to hit the the target with a riffle and with the knowledge of a success, aim the canon and hit the target at first attempt.
I'm not sure how that's even useful as anything other than a curiosity.
Perhaps I've missed something
Like say using VC funding to create a company that makes tens of millions of photos available for people that are editing OSM.
I feel the same way. Whenever I see that kind of language I infer an undisguised attempt to mislead readers.
Seems pretty clear to me.