Crowdsourced feature identification and orthorectification
View Patent ↗A crowdsourced search and locate platform, comprising an application server that receives input from a plurality of user devices and navigates to a particular location, sends images of the location to a user device, and receives tagging data provided by the device user, and a client interface application that displays a plurality of interactive elements to a user, receive input from the user, and provide the results of the input to the application server, and methods for operating and administering a crowdsourced search and locate platform.
1. A crowdsourced search and locate platform, comprising:
an application server comprising at least a processor, a memory, and a plurality of programming instructions stored in the memory and operating on the processor, wherein the programming instructions, when operating on the processor, cause the processor to:
receive input from a plurality of user devices via a communication network;
select an orthomosaic image of a portion of the Earth's surface corresponding to a particular geographic location;
automatically select a plurality of smaller images each drawn from a portion of the orthomosaic image, at least a portion of the plurality of images being selected such that, when combined, they cover a particular area of interest;
transmit, over a network, at least a portion of the plurality of smaller images to each of at least two user devices;
receive, over the network, tagging data from at least one of the user devices, the tagging data corresponding to a plurality of objects and locations identified by the user of the device;
reduce geolocation error for a plurality of features on the earth by analyzing tagging data pertaining to each respective feature; and
update at least a portion of the orthomosaic image by labeling a plurality of features on the earth, the features being based at least in part on at least a portion of the tagging data; and
a client interface application comprising at least a processor, a memory, and a plurality of programming instructions stored in the memory and operating on the processor, wherein the programming instructions, when operating on the processor, cause the processor to:
display a plurality of interactive elements to a user, receive input from the user, and provide the results of the input as tagging data to the application server.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user input comprises at least a plurality of tagging data, the tagging data corresponding to at least a plurality of objects and locations identified by the user.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the tagging data is provided by a user via placing visual indicators at each tagged location of objects of the selected type within the plurality of image strips.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the client interface application displays a plurality of elements enabling an administrative user to configure and run a crowdsourced search and locate algorithm, wherein the algorithm receives at least a plurality of tagging data provided by participating users in a crowdsourced search and locate campaign, and determines a most likely distribution of actual locations of objects of interest.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the client interface application displays at least a portion of tagging data of a type selected by a user, the tagging data having been provided by a plurality of other participating users in the crowdsourced search and locate campaign.
6. A method for conducting crowdsourced search and locate operations, comprising the steps of:
receiving, at an application server, a plurality of communication connections from a plurality of user devices via a communication network;
navigating a to a particular geographic location based at least in part on input received from a first user device;
selecting an orthomosaic image of a portion of the Earth's surface corresponding to the particular geographic location;
automatically selecting a plurality of smaller images each drawn from a portion of the orthomosaic image, at least a portion of the plurality of images being selected such that, when combined, they cover a particular area of interest;
transmitting, over a network, at least a portion of the plurality of smaller images to each of at least two user devices;
receiving, over a network, tagging data from the first user device, the tagging data corresponding to a plurality of objects and locations identified by the user of the device;
reducing geolocation error for a plurality of features on the earth by analyzing tagging data pertaining to each respective feature; and
updating at least a portion of the orthomosaic image by labeling a plurality of features on the earth, the features being based at least in part on at least a portion of the tagging data.