Crowds, Computers,

and Coordinates

Geography 2050

Abe Usher

Chief Technology Officer, HumanGeo

1

3 Key Factors, Today

2

> 7 billion people

> 3 billion Internet users

> 10 million geolocated

social media observations daily

3 Key Factors, 2050

3

> 10 billion people

> 6 billion Internet users

> 1 billion geolocated

social media observations daily

The “Traditional” Model

For Assessing Information

4

How can you identify a legitimate

rapper (versus someone who

just gets up and rhymes)?

Tracy Morrow (Ice-T)

The “Traditional” Model

For Assessing Information

5

How can you identify a legitimate

rapper artist (versus someone who

just gets up and rhymes)?

Game knows game, baby.

The “Traditional” Model

For Assessing Information

6

How can you identify a legitimate

rapper artist (versus someone who

just gets up and rhymes)?

“If you have expert knowledge, then you

are capable of answering complex questions

by interpreting domain specific information.”

[paraphrased]

Crowd Mischief, Part 1

7Google Cat: http://goo.gl/qweKjF

Crowd Mischief, Part 2

8

http://goo.gl/I5Kepk

A New Model

For Assessing Information

9

A New Model

For Assessing Information

10

A New Model

For Assessing Information

11

A New Model

For Assessing Information

12

* Thanks to Dr. Chris Oxendine for research in this area

The Crowd in 2050

• Global population grows > 3B

• > 90% population always online

• Continuous stream of human-

sensor observations

13

Computers in 2050

• Outnumber humans 10:1

• More than 250,000x faster than

in 2014

• Micro-SD storage will exceed

500 billion gigabytes

14

Coordinates in 2050

• More than 100B computers,

spatially aware

• Internet-of-Things generating a

continuous stream of spatial

data

• “User location” defines

information relevance

15

Crowds + Computers + Coordinates

16

Persistent Awareness

New “Truth” Algorithms

Personal Location Advisors