environment – SamaGamer

Chesapeake Conservancy is an environmental group that fights for the conservation of the entire basin of the bay with the same name. Two years ago, featured one of the highest resolution maps ever made in the US, of a territory that covered 259,000 square kilometers, with 207 cities and rural counties.

This map was based on updated satellite images and had a resolution of one meter, compared to the previous one it was from 2011 and its resolution was 30 meters: this meant that a single pixel of this map no longer represented an entire farm, but allowed to identify individual crops.

The map consisted of 80,000 cells, each equivalent to about 33.7 square kilometers, which after being analyzed by a computer, were reviewed one by one by humans to classify ground cover (vegetation, water, concrete, etc.), a task that required a team of 30 people working for 10 months.

Algorithms to identify crops, lakes and roads

The computerized analysis of the map was carried out using the open source tool Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit 2.0 and the Azure cloud, thanks to the collaboration between environmentalists and the AI for Earth program launched by Microsoft.

This has enabled the Chesapeake Conservancy to use software capable of analyzing and identify each element of the map thanks to machine learning: “Your brain contains an algorithm that has been trained to identify images: ‘That’s a tree, that’s a car, that’s a boat,” explains Microsoft’s environmental manager Lucas Joppa.

In the Microsoft Environment blog, they summarize the challenges they face when trying to make these kinds of maps:

“High-resolution, real-time land cover maps can guide conservation efforts, but creating these maps using available imagery and tracking changes over time requires complex algorithms and computing resources.[…] able to keep pace with the increasing speed of data collection. “

Thanks to what they learned working with the map of the bay, Microsoft was able to use its Brainwave Project to process 200 million satellite images in just 10 minutes (and for a cost of less than € 40) and immediately generate a draft of the land cover map of the entire United States.

These high-resolution maps will now allow environmental groups to assess changes in the environment at a much higher frequency, and focus where changes are fastest and most aggressive. That’s why the Chesapeake Conservancy is now collaborating with groups in other regions of the US (Iowa, Arizona, the Great Lakes) to generate new maps, thanks to the processing power that Microsoft technology gives them.

However, not everything learned in the Chesapeake is exportable to other areas: for example, the machine learning algorithm, trained in analyzing the blue and green tones of the Chesapeake basin, did not show good performance when facing beige and sandstone colors that dominate the arid landscape of Arizona.

IN BRIEF

In a recent post on the official PlayStation blog, the world of Ghost of Tsushima was discussed.

As Joanna Wang from the Sucker Punch studio revealed, the map in the title will be divided into three regions with over 40 different biomes and “hundreds of interesting places”.

The developers made every effort to ensure that the world of Ghost of Tsushima was alive. These include trees and grasses moved by the wind or changing weather conditions.

Some time ago, Jason Connell, Creative and Artistic Director of Ghost of Tsushima, gave an extensive interview to IGN. He discussed, among other things, the topic of the map that we will visit in the upcoming production. In his words, although the team from the Sucker Punch studio managed to reproduce the terrain of the island of Cushima relatively accurately in the game, it is not a faithful digital copy of the real land located almost exactly halfway between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. This issue was elaborated on in a recent post on the official PlayStation blog by Joanna Wang, who is the lead artist of the environment during the creation of Ghost of Tsushima. It confirmed that the digital Tsushima is not a 1: 1 reconstruction of a real place and it was not meant to be. Instead, the developers have set themselves the goal of preparing a “love letter” for all parts of this particular fragment of Japanese territory.

The world of Ghost of Tsushima is supposed to make an impression.

According to Wang, representatives of the Sucker Punch band have visited Cushima Island many times. They delighted with its landscape and took from it the most “essential” elements. They added some things inspired by the main lands of Japan and thus brought to life the unique world of Ghost of Tsushima. A world that, according to both Wang and Connell’s assurances, makes it the biggest game ever from the hands of Sucker Punch studio members.

World scale in Ghost of Tsushima the following words by Joanna Wang are quite well illustrated:

The map is divided into three regions filled with over forty biomes and hundreds of places of interest. Our motto when creating an open world game is “if you see something, you can get there” with as few exceptions as possible. You will travel through lush forests, traverse swampy lands, and climb snow-covered mountains. We looked through tons of movies, games, paintings and even posters that we drew inspiration from. We want to present you an authentic, credible world that will appeal to you, invite you to explore, and which is rich and full of surprises.

You want to visit.

The landscape of Tsushima Island prepared for the upcoming production of the Sucker Punch studio is based on two pillars – wild nature and man-made structures. The former is to pay special attention. The developers have made every effort to ensure that the nature of Ghost of Tsushima is rich and colorful. According to Wang, this gives the game a unique character.

According to Wang, the world of Ghost of Tsushima is supposed to resemble a living figure.

The team from Sucker Punch also made sure that the surroundings in Ghost of Tsushima it was as alive as possible. We are talking about the wind that moves trees, flowers and grasses, which is intended to give the title an additional atmosphere. Again to quote Wang’s words:

Discovering the world of Tsushima is one of the main parts of our game, and we treat our surroundings as a living figure. One that breathes, moves, has personality of its own, is charming and rich.

The world of the game should also be authenticated by changing weather conditions. Again to quote Wang:

You can stand on top of a cliff and catch a glimpse of the storm on the horizon. You can just cross the bridge when the clouds block the sun and it starts raining unexpectedly. On a misty night, you can try to sneak into the Mongolian camp, and a moment later admire the beautiful sunrise on the ocean shore while riding a horse … Everything is dynamic.

But how does it all work out in action? We will be able to find out about it next week. Ghost of Tsushima will debut on July 17 exclusively on PlayStation 4. The title will be made available with the full Polish language version (including both subtitles and dialogues).

Ghost of Tsushima official website

Ghost of Tsushima – a compendium of knowledge