Hi Friends,
All the mapping technologies I'm working on are possible because of this non-copyrighted, wikipedia-like user-generated map of the world. The fact that it's all being done on a shoestring budget while its only counterpart must be spending many times that, is pretty amazing.
Note: It seems taking money in INR isn't possible for them. It's UK-based, so best to get a contact of yours in UK/Europe to chip in.
On OSM as an open-source, creative commons alternative to google maps:
Researchers cannot access aggregated data using google maps, like say all the traffic lights in a particular area. On OSM they can. Legally, people aren't allowed to use prints or high-res images from google maps in their work.. on OSM there's no such restriction. And, OSM has its data in vector format, which makes it possible for anyone to style maps in their own way, and even go totally creative with it. The default OpenStreetMap might seem a bit too ugly, but look at a few of its various flavours:
http://nikhilvj.techydudes.net/files/leaflet-layers.html (go to layers button on top right)
Researchers cannot access aggregated data using google maps, like say all the traffic lights in a particular area. On OSM they can. Legally, people aren't allowed to use prints or high-res images from google maps in their work.. on OSM there's no such restriction. And, OSM has its data in vector format, which makes it possible for anyone to style maps in their own way, and even go totally creative with it. The default OpenStreetMap might seem a bit too ugly, but look at a few of its various flavours:
http://nikhilvj.techydudes.net/files/leaflet-layers.html (go to layers button on top right)
So it's pretty much spawned a revolution in mapping, quite similar to what Wikipedia did for encyclopedias.
All the mapping technologies I'm working on are possible because of this non-copyrighted, wikipedia-like user-generated map of the world. The fact that it's all being done on a shoestring budget while its only counterpart must be spending many times that, is pretty amazing.
Note: It seems taking money in INR isn't possible for them. It's UK-based, so best to get a contact of yours in UK/Europe to chip in.
Regards,
Nikhil, India
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