Our focus at Locate
The place for big ideas and challenges in the mapping world
By: Marc Prioleau
My favorite part of Mapbox is getting to see developers doing something new with maps literally every day. They are using location to create better ways to engage consumers, squeeze extra efficiency out of on-demand delivery systems, or layer geospatial information into augmented reality platforms. We’re seeing new markets emerge as we shift from maps for humans to maps built for machines in automotive and IoT applications.
As we plan the agenda for Locate, our new two-day user conference covering the most important topics in the location and mapping space, the problem isn’t finding things to talk about. It’s how to cover all of the really big questions in only two days. Here are a few of the themes we’re exploring at Locate:
- Maps for Machines: Maps have always been aimed at humans, but that’s changing. Maps used in autonomous driving require entirely new levels of accuracy and latency, pushing the boundaries of AI and deep learning to the edge of the networks.
- Big Data Visualization: The ability to visualize massive, real-time data sets and derive valuable insights is creating new ways to manage businesses from ride-sharing to government to humanitarian relief efforts.
- Custom Data on Custom Maps: No single map can do it all anymore. Apps like Snapchat, The Weather Channel, Woov, Lonely Planet and Hot Stepper are creating new ways to interact with maps, merging their data with location context, and customizing the experience to drive engagement, build new revenue models, and make their brands stand out.
- Live Data: Maps used to be built on static data. Not anymore. Maps today are being rebuilt every minute based on feedback from millions of end points. This is the era of “living” maps, where your users directly influence the performance and intelligence of the map.
- Augmented Reality: We’ve just started leveraging the 200M+ AR-enabled mobile phones to build apps that project map data into the real world. We’re adapting our thinking and our tools to inspire new user interactions with physical and virtual space.
Locate brings together the best practitioners from around the world to talk about the present and future of maps. We’re lining up some great speakers who will be hitting these key themes and looking at their implications and strategies. There will also be sessions where builders can dive into code-level discussions on advanced mapping topics.
Keep an eye out for more information leading up to Locate with interviews and posts on what to expect, and follow #explorerswanted on Twitter for updates. Locate will be the place where the mapping world can dig into big ideas and challenges. We’ll see you at Locate.
