Observed arrival · 2026-10-26
Proteus: a map that distrusts every GPS trace
An interactive browser demo shows how noisy volunteer GPS traces can be combined into a map of roads that may remain passable after a disaster.
- For
- Disaster-mapping researchers and civic technologists
- Worth noticing
- A road segment survives only when at least two verified edges align within 15° and overlap most of its length.
Field notes
The page exposes a browser-based JavaScript port of the reference implementation: visitors choose a street grid, campus, or OpenStreetMap area, set damage and volunteer parameters, then reveal GPS fixes, verified fixes, intersections, and the combined map. Verification requires at least three other volunteers’ fixes within a 10 m threshold, while map segments need agreement from at least two verified edges. The reported evaluation uses agent-based simulations of downtown Houston and the University of Houston campus, not documented live disaster deployments.
Observed signals
Read the marks
Editorial observations of this landing page, not a rating.
One card from the complete issue