April 2020 Summaries

Since its launch, the Interactive Storytelling solution has been utilized by a diverse array of users, including newsrooms, non-profits, and individuals, to craft engaging and interactive narratives without the need for coding. This tool has expanded the storytelling possibilities for journalists, developers, data visualization experts, and non-coders, allowing for the creation of intricate stories such as the Washington Post's animated pronghorn journey or the SF Chronicle's 49 Mile Scenic Route. Each project, whether showcasing ski routes, mapping endangered public lands, analyzing carbon-neutral infrastructure, or modeling the impacts of deforestation, demonstrates the versatility and potential of this platform. The solution enables dynamic and interactive experiences, such as Al Jazeera's visualization of changes to the Nile's landscape and ICEYE's demo of satellite data on suspicious vessels, illustrating how interactive storytelling can enhance understanding and engagement across a range of topics. The platform not only inspires its users to create their own stories but also provides resources like templates, guides, and webinars to support their creative processes.

Myle Technologies, a ride-hailing app launched in February, swiftly adapted its operations to support New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic by transporting patients, medical supplies, and healthcare professionals. Initially popular for eliminating surge pricing and offering lower fares, Myle pivoted to focus on contactless deliveries and safe transport by equipping vehicles and drivers with protective gear. The company relies heavily on pre-scheduled rides, with over 80% of its business coming from various organizations, necessitating precise real-time and historical traffic data for efficient route planning. By integrating Mapbox Traffic Data, Myle enhanced its routing engine to access both typical and live traffic speeds, improving the accuracy of ETAs and cost models, and ensuring route efficiency even in adverse conditions. Myle's CTO, Vadim Makarenko, praised Mapbox for its reliability and support, which has been integral to optimizing their ride-share operations and maintaining customer satisfaction during the pandemic.

Snap's third annual Easter Egg Hunt introduced a "Hunt from Home" feature, allowing users to collect virtual eggs globally with a tap, although higher-value items remained elusive. While engaging in this activity, users could explore diverse global stories through Snap Map, which showcased personal experiences and events like a gun control walkout, a concert, and pandemic-related stories such as home-cooked meals in Tel Aviv and a nurse advocating for social distancing in New Jersey. Despite losing points in the Egg Hunt, the experience offered a chance to appreciate worldwide efforts and share in a global narrative, prompting continued exploration on Snap Map beyond the event.

The global imagery layer, managed by the Satellite team, is a 4 petabyte dataset sourced from a combination of satellites and airplanes, optimized for recency and visual quality across varying zoom levels. This imagery layer serves multiple use cases, including business, scientific, humanitarian, and governmental applications, by providing visual context and enabling detailed extraction and analysis. The team prioritizes updates based on industry use, customer feedback, and internal data on tile requests, with a focus on high-resolution data sets for areas with significant demand. Efforts have been made to enhance the basemap by using anonymized telemetry to understand customer usage patterns, leading to data-driven decisions for imagery allocation and ensuring frequent updates in high-demand areas. Aiming to maintain high-quality imagery, particularly in the contiguous United States, the team is also exploring new offerings to provide users with greater control over the imagery they access.

World Central Kitchen, led by Chef Jose Andres, is actively organizing efforts to provide fresh meals to individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through its Chefs for America initiative. The organization has developed a crowd-sourced map featuring meal distribution points across the U.S., including school districts, restaurants, and community kitchens. To facilitate this initiative, Mapbox volunteers assisted in creating a user-friendly mapping tool that updates in real-time using data from a simple Google spreadsheet. This allows for a collaborative approach to tracking and displaying meal availability, enabling other organizations to adopt similar mapping solutions for various purposes.