KartaView 101

Karta and other variations of the word mean map in multiple languages, /kâːrta/

The year 2020 – packed with challenging events, strict circumstances, and with a tendency to redesign life as we know it. In spite of its unpredictable nature, 2020 has also marked a milestone for us, as it unveiled the long-overdue transition from OpenStreetCam to KartaView – an app that withstood a change in its aesthetic, but clearly not a change of heart.                                    

KartaView is still here for you, for the community – here to replenish the endless stream of OSM information, at a gradual but steady pace. 

How often did you find yourself editing and wished you had imagery to fall back on? Nothing beats precision mapping more than having a good quality recording from which you can extract valuable attributes. It’s even more fun when those images are recorded by you! 

If you’re eager to embark on this journey, you can grab it here for Android or iOS. Let’s do some exploring!

There are already more than 384 million images on KartaView, covering almost 8 million kilometers of road, so, obviously, getting started is easy enough that it can be done without much guidance. Throughout this blog post, we would like to sway you into making your first contribution to KartaView, whether it’s for personal or communal use. Our collection app still relies on its main functionalities, which you already know and love. 

Mounting – Invest in a good quality phone mount!

Carefully secure your phone by using an appropriate mount, to prevent imagery from being blurry or come across as shaky. Using a stable, well-positioned mount is essential for capturing top-notch street-level imagery. The phone should be as centered as possible so that attributes from both parts of the road can be captured during one ride. Use the camera preview in the app to check.

Record during good weather conditions!

Now that the phone is well mounted, let’s tap on that camera shaped icon before starting your engine. As soon as you begin, an assisted tilt will show up on the screen – it will help you straighten your phone’s position. You guessed it, it’s time to click on START! And STOP. As many times as your phone storage or microSD can take it.

Use the map to find new roads that are not yet collected. Remember: more new roads, more points!

Preview recordings

Time to Netflix and preview! Maybe there was some bad weather outside or some images got blurred. Once you finish recording, check the imagery and binge-watch your trip on fast-forward. 

Uploading

You can now either upload every recording or discard unwanted ones and upload the rest, it’s entirely up to you. Your upload speed may vary depending on your Internet connection.

Processing

Once your recordings reach our server, they will go through a complex procedure that involves snapping the photos to the roads, removing Personal Identifiable Information (faces and license plates), and preparing them to be published to kartaview.org. This is also when your points are calculated – the number you see during recording is mostly a ballpark figure that can give you a general idea of how many points you’ve earned. Keep in mind that your recordings might end up in a queue – don’t worry, they’ll be processed when they’re first in line.

Unmatched pictures are available as well, and they can be recognized as small dots on the map, while zooming in. 

Editing OSM

Having high-resolution and up to date KartaView imagery is a vital source in editing OpenStreetMap. It helps you edit new features (e.g. lanes, turn restrictions, road name) in the map or validate the existing ones, especially while doing armchair mapping. This is a discussion on which we’ll emphasise in upcoming posts, fully dedicated to editing. 

In drawing things to a close, we’d like you to know that KartaView isn’t just about street-level imagery – in fact, as this field is becoming more dynamic than ever, we too try to make the most out of this progression – whether it’s indoor mapping, disaster surveying or simply embedding the coordinates of your favorite pizza place, images are key. 

Walking, driving, hiking, biking are all KartaView friendly activities that could make OpenStreetMap a better and better map for the world!

How are you using KartaView?

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US metro OpenStreetCam competition

We decided to celebrate summer and the great driving weather that comes alongside it by launching a new OpenStreetCam competition! If you live in or happen to be nearby Miami, Los Angeles, Houston or Chicago, this is your chance to participate!

The kick-off date is June 12. Buckle up!


Competition guidelines

  • Download the free / open source OpenStreetCam app for Android or iOS.
  • Collect as many OpenStreetCam points as you can until August 12, 23:59 Eastern time. Every image uploaded gets you points, with more points awarded for roads that are being covered for the first time or that have been surveyed infrequently.
  • We will announce the winners on the 13th of August.
  • The top contributors will win an OpenStreetCam enhanced Waylens Horizon dashcam.
  • We will give out one dashcam per city to our top contributors.
  • Two runner ups will receive a $100 Amazon gift card.
  • You need to gather at least 500K points to be eligible to win the dash cam.
  • It costs nothing to compete.
  • Only the points collected between June 12 – August 12 are taken into account.
  • Points collected with Waylens dashcams are not eligible.

If you’re looking for additional insight, refer to the FAQ below:

  • How will I know my rank in the leaderboards?

We will post weekly updates on Facebook and Twitter. Make sure you check them once in while.

  • How can I earn more points?

Go to https://openstreetcam.org and check out where the magenta lines are missing. Those areas will guarantee the highest return. 

  • I’m getting errors trying to install the app, record or upload.

Send us an e-mail at hello@openstreetcam.org and we’ll provide support and troubleshooting ASAP.

  • Does your app provide routing?

No.

  • Can I use an OBD-II dongle?

You sure can, if you have one to spare. It’s going to enable the 2X multiplier per each kilometer collected.

  • Can I record with a dashcam?

Of course, you have our full support, as long as the data is under the form of geotagged JPEGs. You can upload the data collected via our script.

  • I signed up via OSM, how will you contact me?

Please send us a message on Facebook or drop an e-mail at hello@openstreetcam.org.

We reserve the right to disqualify contributors for cheating by uploading useless / blurry / dark images or duplicating existing data from multiple devices on the same account.

Contenders will need to opt in and supply an e-mail address in order for us to contact the winners.

Drive safe!

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Announcing the Second OpenStreetCam Australia and New Zealand Competition

The Telenav OSM team is excited to announce a new OpenStreetCam imagery collection competition for Australia and New Zealand! This second edition will kick-off on the 15th of March and will last until the 15th of April. Buckle up!

How to compete

  • Download the free / open source OpenStreetCam app for Android or iOS.
  • Collect as many OpenStreetCam points as you can until April 15, 23:59 UTC+10. Every image uploaded gets you points, with more points awarded for roads that are being covered for the first time or that have been surveyed infrequently.
  • We will announce the winners on the 16th of April.
  • The top contributors will win a Waylens Horizon dashcam.
  • We will give out one dashcam per country to our top contributors.
  • The runners up will receive a $100 Amazon gift card.
  • You need to gather at least 250K points to be eligible to win the dash cam.
  • Points collected with Waylens dashcams are not eligible.
  • It costs nothing to compete.

About OpenStreetCam

For those who don’t know OpenStreetCam, it is a free and open platform that uploads street-level imagery captured by your smartphone and detects salient features from the uploaded images such as signs, lanes and road curvature to improve OpenStreetMap. The images are collected by mappers for mappers and can be used in iD or JOSM to improve OpenStreetMap.

We have a ‘Getting Started’ guide on our blog!

FAQ

  • How will I know my rank in the leaderboards?

We will post weekly updates on Facebook and Twitter. Make sure you check them once in while.

  • How can I earn more points?

Go to https://openstreetcam.org and check out where the magenta lines are missing. Those areas will guarantee the highest return. 

  • I’m getting errors trying to install the app, record or upload.

Send us an e-mail at hello@openstreetcam.org and we’ll provide support and troubleshooting ASAP.

  • Does your app provide routing?

No.

  • Can I use an OBD-II dongle?

You sure can, if you have one to spare. It’s going to enable the 2X multiplier per each kilometer collected.

  • Can I record with a dashcam?

Of course, you have our full support, as long as the data is under the form of geotagged JPEGs. You can upload the data collected via our script.

  • I signed up via OSM, how will you contact me?

Please send us a message on Facebook or drop an e-mail at hello@openstreetcam.org.

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