Map Improvement Proposal 13 (MIP-13)

4/9/2024 Update: We have decided to finalize MIP-13. We are making one minor change based on community input, which is to require 95% (rather than 100%) of dashcams to be capable of generating map features on the edge before the third reallocation can occur. Thank you to everyone who shared feedback.

TL;DR

Under this proposal, 30% of the Operational Reward currently allocated to the network operator (i.e., 3% of the weekly rewards pool) would be reallocated to map contributors as the edge computing power of the network increases. The comment period on this proposal will be 7 days, running from Monday, April 1, 2024 until Monday, April 8, 2024.

Proposal

Building the world’s freshest map requires enormous computing power.

The share of computing power coming from contributors’ devices has increased since the launch of the network, and will continue to increase as more powerful devices come online.

There are many benefits of moving computing to the edge. One benefit is that it saves money on centralized cloud computing services, improving the network’s structural cost advantage over incumbent mapping providers.

For this reason, we propose that 30% of the Operational Reward currently allocated to the network operator (i.e., 3% of the weekly rewards pool) be reallocated to map contributors over time.

The first reallocation would occur immediately, in recognition of the added edge processing that dashcams have already taken on since launch. At least two more reallocations would occur as next-generation dashcams come online and further reduce cloud computing expenses.

Over time, as other improvements in decentralized processing, file transfer and storage allow us to reduce network maintenance costs, we intend to continually revisit the Operational Reward allocation.

The comment period on this proposal will be 7 days, running from Monday, April 1, 2024 until Monday, April 8, 2024. Active members of the Hivemapper community are encouraged to participate by sharing questions, suggestions, and comments in the #mip-13 channel of Hivemapper’s Discord server.

Background

Edge processing is important for several reasons.

• It enables faster detection of dynamic map features such as roadwork.
• It improves the cost stack by reducing reliance on cloud services.
• It protects privacy by avoiding upload of unblurred imagery.

Today, dashcams on the Hivemapper Network handle more edge processing than they did when the network was designed. In particular, we’ve improved our privacy processing to ensure that bodies and vehicles — not just faces and license plates, a norm in the mapping industry that we followed at launch — are blurred on the edge.

Hivemapper Inc.’s next-generation Bee dashcam, which is slated to begin delivery in Q3, was designed specifically to enable the generation of Map Features on the edge, which we expect to further reduce the cost of transferring, storing and processing imagery.

With more compute power than the original Hivemapper Dashcam, a more advanced GNSS setup and a stereo camera designed to enable 3D reconstruction, the Hivemapper Bee will be able to process images in ways that currently must be done using cloud computing services.

Implementation details

With this proposal, we recommend that 5% of the Operational Reward currently allocated to the network operator (i.e., 0.5% of the total rewards pool) be reallocated to map contributors, effective as soon as practicable if this proposal is finalized.

We recommend that an additional 10% (or 1% of the total rewards pool) be reallocated to dashcam contributors when half of weekly active dashcams are next-generation models such as the Bee are capable of generating map features on the edge.

Shipping of the Bee is scheduled to begin in Q3 2024, and it will take some time for the Bee to surpass the Hivemapper Dashcam and Hivemapper Dashcam S in terms of units deployed.

We recommend that an additional 15% (or 1.5% of the total rewards pool) be reallocated to dashcam contributors when 95% of active dashcams are capable of generating map features on the edge. Reaching this threshold may require original models to be deprecated, the timing of which has not been determined.

All in all, this would result in 30% of Operational Reward being redirected to dashcam contributors, or 3% of the total reward pool on a weekly basis.

Share your input

Active members of the Hivemapper community are encouraged to participate by sharing questions, suggestions, and comments in the #mip-13 channel of Hivemapper’s Discord server.

The comment period will be 7 days, running from Monday, April 1, 2024 until Monday, April 8, 2024.

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful feedback as we rebalance rewards to fairly reflect the contributions of all network participants.