A canticle for the reverse geocoder

1. An Approach to OSM Geocoding:
From Ships to Apples
Tyler Bell:
@twbell

2. Matthew Fontaine Maury
(January 14, 1806 – February 1, 1873)
American astronomer, historian, oceanographer,
meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and
educator.
"Every ship that navigates
the high seas may
henceforth be regarded as
a floating observatory, a
temple of science"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Fontaine_Maury

3. Geocoding:
Hugely Exciting
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/alexnormand/5992512756

4. Geocoders: where your love
of mapping goes to die
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/5855930819

5. GPS: Most Successful
Open Data Ever
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GPS_Satellite_NASA_art-iif.jpg

6. ● The World Requires a(many) Open
Geocoder(s)
● OSM is not great for geocoding
● The Geocoder use case has changed
○ Reverse geocoding now arguably
more important
● Open addresses, open polys are
critical for our future

7. The Geocoding
Use Case has
Changed
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/bostworld/2151258519

8. Formerly: Maps
and Nav
ecure.flickr.com/photos/kachkaev/6167965144

9. Now: About
Context
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/abavetta/5644816547

10. July 2007 – scalebariffic
April 2014 – we have satellite

11. Source: “Emergence of a $Trillion MEMS Sensor Market”, Fairchild Semiconductor, Dr. Janusz Bryzek, SensorCon 2012, Yole
Accelerometer
Gyroscope
Compass
GPS
Bluetooth
Radio Picoprojector
Image Sensor
Camera
Proximity Sensor
Microphone
Moving from a 3rd Person
Perspective, to 1st

12. Forward Reverse
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/57336354@N00/5647194292

13. 1. Reverse Geocoder Only
2. Designed for Tagging
3. Bloody Fast (~6k qps)
4. On-prem
5. Uniform Hierarchy
6. Unambiguous Entities
7. Global (natch)
8. Low/No Touch: Improves w/ OSM
9. Address Level Granularity

14. OSM: the 'S' is for
'Street'
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/bibliodem/6246117945

15. Technical
Challenges:
Hierarchy Normalization
Non-street Context
Human Expectations
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/7797312736

16. LA: makes
no sense

17. {
"features":[
{
"name":"Century City Shopping Mall",
"type":"mall"
}
],
"street_name":{
"name":"Avenue of the Stars"
},
"address":{
"name":"1801 Avenue of the Stars"
},
"locality":{
"name":"Los Angeles"
},
"neighborhood":[
{
"name":"Westside Village"
}
],
"country":{
"name":"US"
},
"region":{
"name":"CA"
},
"county":{
"name":"Los Angeles County"
}
}
Response Packet

18. 1. Get Everyone Using OSM
2. Force Examination of OdBL
3. Force Case Law (?)
4. Ultimately Raise Comfort Level
5. Increase Contributions to OSM
6. GOTO 1

19. Data Value:
Not Zero Sum
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/pyth0ns/4571657460

20. "When you and I interact, our ability to be together on
Earth is predicated by all the stuff that people did for
thousands of years. You and I didn't invent language.
You and I didn't invent clothes, roads, agriculture. It's
up to us to be not just the receivers of what was given
to us, but the givers of whatever's going to come next."
- John Bunker

21. Fin
Tyler Bell
tyler@factual.com
@twbell