First off, how is Mapillary used? For many, mapping with Mapillary means strapping your phone to your car or bike or taking it with you for a walk and capturing an area that you find interesting. This is a great use of Mapillary and exactly what it was designed for originally. Over the last year though, our users have continually impressed us with innovative, functional and often noble ways to use Mapillary.

Here is a selection of our favourites:

Disability Access

Higa4 has been one of our best contributors in Japan, focusing on cataloguing disability access or the lack thereof in various parts of Tokyo. Like many, he began using Mapillary in conjunction with OpenStreetMap (OSM), capturing useful data for both in the process.

Louisiana Bayou

This set of sequences in the Louisiana Bayou, captured by garret, highlights the versatility of Mapillary. Indeed many other users have been capturing great sequences on the water from the islands around Reykjavik to the stunning Sydney Harbour.

Mapping Lesotho

In February this year, a team of Irish OSMers and staff from the Fingal County Council made a trip to Lesotho to get local mappers more involved and to work with government planners to improve the quality of their mapping data. Mapillary and OSM were invaluable tools in this process. You can have a look at the blog about the project here or check out some of the sequences Dacor captured with Mapillary here.

Exploring the Roof of the World

Fundacja Geolife is one of Mapillary’s most prolific uploaders and also happens to run a foundation that encourages people to be active through activities such as Geocaching. He recently made a trip to Nepal and took Mapillary with him to capture some stunning sequences from the streets of Kathmandu to some of the more precarious locations you’ll find.

The Red Cross in Haiti

In 2010 a devastating earthquake rocked Haiti, killing thousands and wreaking havoc on an already impoverished nation. From the time of the earthquake to now, the Red Cross has been doing great work, assisting with both the immediate and long term needs of those affected. A big part of this is restoring local infrastructure by building hospitals and clinics, improving access to clean water and sanitation systems and helping education and business to develop. Aid workers with the Red Cross captured many sequences in Haiti that can serve as a record of the rebuilding effort and a tool to plan infrastructure programs. Calimapnerd from the Red Cross is now taking Mapillary and the concept to Zimbabwe.

2015 Cricket World Cup

One place where Mapillary is sorely lacking is New Zealand. Nigel Ramsay is working to change that, with thousands of great photos being uploaded from both the North and South Islands. Most importantly, he’s capturing cool things like the 2015 Cricket World Cup in Wellington where New Zealand’s Martin Guptill scored the highest individual score in World Cup History against the West Indies. 237 not out in case you’re interested.

Iceland

Iceland has been getting more attention lately and rightly so. Whether it be via movies such as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty or volcanoes erupting, the remote, sparsely populated country boasts some of the most dramatic and spectacular scenery on our little blue planet. Stalfur is capturing that beauty with Mapillary and giving others the opportunity to explore the island from central Reykjavik to the rugged east coast.

Bike Paths in Denmark

Neogeografen is another serious contributor in the OSM community and in addition to his great work there, he has uploaded over 1000km of sequences to Mapillary, many of them from his bike. He’s using Mapillary to map the bike paths of Denmark, a deed of significant use to the cycling community.

Matera Italy

Matera is a UNESCO World Heritage listed town in Southern Italy and the 2019 European Capital of Culture. All the more reason then for Raxpa and Santomik to map the ancient, panoramic city with Mapillary. Thanks to these two users, we are now able to tour much of the town from the ancient Sassi settlement to the surrounding valleys. Matera and other historically important cities deserve to be protected and this is an important step towards doing so.

If there are other great sequences and contributors out there that you think deserve a mention, let us know about them!

And as always, drop us a line if you have any ideas or feedback as we continue working to make Mapillary even better.

Happy mapping,

Ed & The Mapillary Team