Google said that Open Buildings, a new AI tool, has been used to map buildings throughout Africa.
In contrast to Google Street View, Google’s Open Buildings employs AI to create a digital footprint for each structure.
Additionally, it offers each building’s size, confidence score that it was correctly identified as a building, precise position, polygon outline, and Plus Code.
Google’s comprehensive dataset for the AI contains the outlines of at least 500 million structures on the continent, most of which are less than 20 square meters and span 50 African nations.
However, there is no information available on the kind of building, its street address, or any other identifying information. Google said that in order to safeguard vulnerable people, it has also omitted sensitive locations like war zones.
Advantages of the system
Google highlighted the advantages of AI technology for both state and non-state actors.
“Millions of previously invisible structures have suddenly appeared in our dataset, from Dadaab’s refugee camps to Lagos’ Makoko neighborhood.
For state and non-state entities seeking to offer services ranging from sanitation to education and immunization, this better-building data helps clarify our knowledge of where people and communities reside.
Google said that the Open Buildings AI would benefit African nations in the following areas:
Building footprints are a crucial component in measuring population density when mapping the population.
Planning services for communities need this information.
Planning a humanitarian response to a flood, a drought, or other calamities.
Environmental science: Understanding the influence of human activity on the natural environment requires knowledge of settlement density.
Buildings often lack official addresses. People may find it challenging to get access to social benefits and job possibilities as a result. Building footprint information may be useful for the implementation of digital addressing systems like Plus Codes.
Predicting demand for vaccines and the ideal sites for facilities requires knowledge of the population density and settlement patterns. Additionally, this information is helpful for precision epidemiology and preventative initiatives like the distribution of mosquito nets.
Buildings data may be used to construct statistical indicators for national planning, such as the number of homes in school and health center catchment regions, the average travel distance to the closest hospital, or the demand projection for transportation systems.
According to Google, their team at the Accra, Ghana-based AI Research Center was in charge of the Open Buildings initiative. The center, according to the business, was established in 2019 to unite elite machine learning researchers and engineers who are passionate about AI research and its applications.
