Overlay for street furniture (etc.)

[westnordost]

I figure there could be an overlay with which one could add (delete, move) street furniture, i.e. benches, waste baskets, bicycle stands, trees, hydrants, maybe even traffic signs, single lanterns etc.

The most difficult of this overlay would be to think of all those POIs that could be collected. And at the same time not... open a can of worms. Certainly, much more so than for shops, there is an inexhaustible number of things that could be added. So, we'd need to come up with a reasonable guideline what should be able to be added with this overlay and what not (either deserving an own overlay or not displayable+addable at all). Of course, only things that can be added with this overlay are also shown on the map.

Anyway, I think maybe the (long) initial phase we could do collaboratively:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tcLm0EDWoCBdkq1N0pKebtksJcF2vMtUgKc9h96fuF0/edit?usp=sharing

Contributions welcome! As far as I know, there is no comprehensive list of "street furniture" in the wiki, so we'd need to dig through it ourselves. Digging through the iD presets may help, too.

[westnordost]

Sorry, I only shared the document as viewable, not as editable. Made it editable now.

[peternewman]

Will these also allow NSI presets of them, so you can e.g. add an Amazon Parcel Locker, rather than just a Parcel Locker?

Likewise the hybrid BT telephone/wifi/advertising screen things that are popping up all over the UK (and I can never remember what tag to use for them)?

I thought this previously got discounted, but I'm certainly in favour of it for things like defibrillators etc. Also for postboxes it will neatly enable the follow on quests for ID, collection time etc.

[westnordost]

Will these also allow NSI presets of them

of course

[mnalis]

While I like the idea of being able to map everything from SC, I have some doubts about efficiency of doing so the current way.

Currently it takes 4 clicks just to switch an overlay in SC (see #4686). It takes 2 clicks (or 1 doubleclick, if you wish) to switch from SC to EveryDoor (using android recents action) which allows me to add such POIs quickly (and already supports full range of ID presets).

It is even worse if one assumes that mappers often needs to switch back to overlay they were using previously (which is quite painful in SC, and the main reason why I use them very little, but that is story for another day).
That is at least 10-12 clicks to add a missing wastebasket I've noticed during e.g. mapping shops. Does not sound like I'd be using that functionality much if that barrier is not reduced significantly.

Perhaps (at least for adding new POIs), it can be added to long-press action? SCEE fork already does that (long press and choose Add POI), so perhaps that code might be reused. It allows to add mentioned wastebasket in as low as 4 clicks (if it is in recents list) regardless of an overlay I was using (and without disturbing it).

---

In related news, I'd suggest scraping changesets made by Every Door and OsmAnd, in order to see which POIs were added most often, to help build that list of "POIs that people like to add".

[westnordost]

Do you really have to post in three issues to make your point? Anyway, to clarify and I thought you knew,:

While I like the idea of being able to map everything from SC, I have some doubts about efficiency of doing so the current way.

This is not what SC overlays are designed for, they are about enabling users to map comprehensively one aspect (per survey) without worrying about other aspects.
It is ofc most inefficient when you try to map everything on one survey, switching between overlays all the time.
If you want to map everything at once, better use a standard editor.

[Un1matr1x]

note: added the emergency-stuff to the google-doc ~ hope I did it the right way

Anyway, I think maybe the (long) initial phase we could do collaboratively:

maybe just use a shorter inital phase and add other requested "furniture" one the go?

Currently it takes 4 clicks just to switch an overlay in SC (see #4686). It takes 2 clicks (or 1 doubleclick, if you wish) to switch from SC to EveryDoor (using android recents action) which allows me to add such POIs quickly (and already supports full range of ID presets).

and I hate to switch apps because on my mobile device the app in the background is more likly to be closed and shut down and the constant restarts of the apps consumes more battery than one app thats in the foreground & I have more productiv time than just stand there and wait for another app to start

[Elefant-aus-Wuppertal]

Here in North Rhine-Westphalia, street furniture is usually positioned after a high-resolution orthophoto (10 cm) (with nearly no or vanishingly small offset!!!).

Of course, this is never possible for all properties, but for most (those that are not indoors) it is.

For something so small in SC, how should it be ensured that mappers don't move it using another aerial photo with offset or, especially, without using an aerial photo at all?

Even with the orthophoto, you sometimes only see pixels at the highest zoom levels. Lower zoom levels often offer more perspective in the overall view. On a cell phone, I imagine it all pretty pixelated.

Will aerial photos even be used as backgrounds in StreetComplete?

[westnordost]

Will aerial photos even be used as backgrounds in StreetComplete?

This is not planned. There is however no strong reason against this but if it is implemented, it should be kept in mind that a best-effort should be done to properly align the aerial imagery with reality and ideally (I think there is some public database about this somewhere), the best aerial imagery available be selected automatically.

[Elefant-aus-Wuppertal]

ideally (I think there is some public database about this somewhere), the best aerial imagery available be selected automatically.

Yeah sure, I think iD indeed does have something like this already, at least in certain areas.

[Elefant-aus-Wuppertal]

This is not planned.

But then how to ensure that mappers don't just move objects around "at will"? In iD, at least the orthophoto pops up as the first, preset background in NRW.

But if there is no aerial background at all? It will probably end up in a chaos...

[westnordost]

The user's GPS location and its precision is shown on the screen, as well as an OSM-based map. Also, for the overlay, all elements that can be added with the overlay are shown as well. So, if an unmapped bicycle parking is just left of a bench, the user has plenty of points to orient himself even if the GPS location is off due to some interference such as high-rise buildings (or indeed the whole area has been mapped with an offset, as often happens)

[Elefant-aus-Wuppertal]

Phew :-(

But isn't it the case that you have to zoom in a lot to see everything?

Errors are already happening with the double recycling containers, which are next to each other in OSM (but still at a certain distance!) and are overlooked.

How is that supposed to be when there are seven benches, five waste_baskets in between and I don't know what else are standing next to each other.