The condition of roads in Tuusula is being mapped using a mobile game
The municipality of Tuusula is organising crowdsourced fitness surveys for roads and cycle paths using the Crowdsorsa mobile game: road users pick up valuable virtual fruit from the map while filming videos.
The Tuusula road mapping will begin on Saturday, 17 May at 10 a.m., and the cycle path mapping will begin the following Saturday, 24 May at 10 a.m. (both subject to weather conditions). Anyone can participate by downloading the Crowdsorsa app to their smartphone. The mobile game is available from both Google Play and the App Store. The road mapping requires a car and a phone holder that attaches to the windscreen, while the cycle path mapping requires a bicycle and a phone holder that attaches to the handlebars.
In the Crowdsorsa app, the streets and cycle paths of Tuusula are filled with berries and fruits worth money. Players collect them from the map by recording videos of the routes. On average, there is more than three euros worth of berries and fruit to collect per kilometre. Participants receive a reward in their bank account.
The collected items disappear from all users’ maps in real time, clearly indicating to participants where information has yet to be collected. Collectors can earn up to twenty euros per hour, and mapping continues as long as there are items on the map, says Toni Paju, CEO of Crowdsorsa.
Information for the municipality for repair work
Videos recorded by users undergo quality control, after which they are analysed using artificial intelligence to identify damage to the road surface. The municipality obtains accurate data from the material on what kind of repair measures the available budget should be allocated to.
– Involving local residents in data collection provides an excellent and quick way to obtain up-to-date information about the municipality’s streets and light traffic routes. We have previously used this method to survey the condition of our transport network and have been very pleased with the results. However, the information collected previously is now out of date, so we decided to repeat the survey, says Jari Huttunen, Maintenance Manager for the municipality of Tuusula.
– Now we would like to invite people once again to participate in this important work, which is both useful and enjoyable way to get involved and exercise. Together, we can gather valuable information that will help us to plan and implement renovation plans for the street network and light traffic routes even better than before. This will ensure that our routes are in the best possible condition for everyone to use. Thank you all for your efforts, Huttunen continues.
What is Crowdsorsa?
Crowdsorsa is a start-up company based in Tampere, Finland, whose concept has been adopted in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
The Crowdsorsa mobile game was developed to crowdsource data collection and microtasks for local residents. The game has been used to map streets, manhole covers and road culverts, as well as to combat harmful invasive plants.
This content has been translated using AI