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How Facebook is Using Machine Learning to Map the World Population

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When it comes to knowing where humans around the world actually live, resources come in varying degrees of accuracy and sophistication.

Heavily urbanized and mature economies generally produce a wealth of up-to-date information on population density and granular demographic data. In rural Africa or fast-growing regions in the developing world, tracking methods cannot always keep up, or in some cases may be non-existent.

This is where new maps, produced by researchers at Facebook, come in. Building upon CIESIN’s Gridded Population of the World project, Facebook is using machine learning models on high-resolution satellite imagery to paint a definitive picture of human settlement around the world. Let’s zoom in.

Connecting the Dots

Will all other details stripped away, human settlement can form some interesting patterns. One of the most compelling examples is Egypt, where 95% of the population lives along the Nile River. Below, we can clearly see where people live, and where they don’t.

View the full-resolution version of this map.

facebook population density egypt map

While it is possible to use a tool like Google Earth to view nearly any location on the globe, the problem is analyzing the imagery at scale. This is where machine learning comes into play.

Finding the People in the Petabytes

High-resolution imagery of the entire globe takes up about 1.5 petabytes of storage, making the task of classifying the data extremely daunting. It’s only very recently that technology was up to the task of correctly identifying buildings within all those images.

To get the results we see today, researchers used process of elimination to discard locations that couldn’t contain a building, then ranked them based on the likelihood they could contain a building.

process of elimination map

Facebook identified structures at scale using a process called weakly supervised learning. After training the model using large batches of photos, then checking over the results, Facebook was able to reach a 99.6% labeling accuracy for positive examples.

Why it Matters

An accurate picture of where people live can be a matter of life and death.

For humanitarian agencies working in Africa, effectively distributing aid or vaccinating populations is still a challenge due to the lack of reliable maps and population density information. Researchers hope that these detailed maps will be used to save lives and improve living conditions in developing regions.

For example, Malawi is one of the world’s least urbanized countries, so finding its 19 million citizens is no easy task for people doing humanitarian work there. These maps clearly show where people live and allow organizations to create accurate population density estimates for specific areas.

rural malawi population pattern map

Visit the project page for a full explanation and to access the full database of country maps.

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Technology

Explained: Life in the Metaverse

In this graphic, Visual Capitalist partnered with Scottish Mortgage to explore the incredible potential of the metaverse.

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Teaser graphic of a bubble chart showing growth in market size of the metaverse industry.

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The following content is sponsored by Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust

Life in the Metaverse

By 2026, a quarter of the world’s population will spend an hour daily in a metaverse. 

But what makes the metaverse so exciting? 

In this graphic, we partnered with Scottish Mortgage to understand the opportunities the metaverse presents and learn more about its history. 

But first, let’s explore what the metaverse is.

What is the Metaverse?   

Simply put, the metaverse is a collection of immersive, interactive, and, most importantly, interconnected digital worlds where users can participate in various activities they may not be able to do in reality, from skydiving to sword fighting. 

The possibilities inherent within a digital world are staggering, so it’s no wonder the metaverse’s market size is growing steadily:

YearGlobal Metaverse Market Size
2022$46.1B
2023$56.7B
2024$74.4B
2025$103.6B
2026$150.1B
2027$219.6B
2028$312.5B
2029$415.3B
2030$507.8B

What Makes the Metaverse So Exciting? 

Being immersed in a digital reality has exciting prospects for consumers and organisations. But most people currently view it as an extension of their digital lives.

In a recent survey, people were most interested in the work and entertainment opportunities presented by the metaverse.

Reason to Join% Respondents
Work possibilities52%
Art & Live Events48%
Investments44%
Education40%
Socialising32%
Gaming29%

Note: Study participants selected all the options that suited them.

Companies are leveraging the metaverse differently, however. Many see this as an opportunity to expand their product lines into areas consumers may not expect and develop their advertising reach into new media. 

Coca-Cola, for example, launched its drink Zero Sugar Byte in the metaverse before doing so physically. Hyundai also developed a metaverse game called Hyundai Mobility Adventure that gives consumers a view into the company’s vision for tomorrow’s mobility.

The Potential of Digital Events

Today, however, we can glimpse the metaverse’s potential by looking at the current landscape of digital events. 

While digital events have only just begun on metaverse platforms, digital events can already scale beyond the possibilities of physical events, enabling millions of people from all over the globe to attend live:

RankEvent NameNumber of Peak Viewers
1NASA and SpaceX Launch Astronauts into Space, 202010,123,124
2#PS5 The Future of Gaming Show, 20207,384,771
3League of Legends World Championship, 20236,402,760
4Free Fire World Series Singapore, 20215,415,990
5League of Legends World Championship, 20225,147.701

A Brief History of the Metaverse

Author Neal Stephenson first introduced the metaverse in his 1992 novel Snow Crash. However, the metaverse took a further decade to become a virtual world. Second Life, a virtual reality game released by Linden Lab in 2003, made this concept a reality and helped create an industry worth billions.

The next major milestone for the metaverse was the release of Fortnite in 2017. The game that started as a simple battle royale has expanded to incorporate concerts, brand partnerships, and more. Fortnite had over 230 million active monthly users in January 2024.

Investing in the Metaverse

The metaverse is growing more prominent every year, as is the scope of what these new digital worlds offer. So, it’s no surprise that the metaverse is one of the world’s most fascinating industries. 

Scottish Mortgage exposes you to a portfolio of the world’s most exciting growth companies, like those pioneering the metaverse. 

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Invest in progress today with scottishmortgage.com

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