Open-Source Mapping Company Mapbox Acquires Passive Fitness App-Maker Human for its Anonymized Data

by | Aug 24, 2016

San Francisco-based Mapbox, an open-source mapping platform, has acquired fitness-tracking app Human, which allows users to track activity all day and aggregates the data anonymously to create information about cities.

Human is a passive app with a simple goal: move every day for 30 minutes or more, dubbed the Daily 30. Instead of complex workout-setting and data entry every time you use it, Human allows users to just set the app up and it gets to work, automatically tracking biking, walking, running or anything else that burns calories. It will send an optional notification if the user meets the Daily 30. The app is available on iOS and Android, and integrates with HealthKit.

Mapbox offers a software developer kit for companies to integrate a map view in their apps and websites, and works with several clients across industries ranging from real estate and agriculture to transportation. The company claims to be processing more than a half a billion miles of data a week, building a truly self-healing map, adapting as the world changes, according to the company's blog.

What the Human team has built is nothing short of amazing, Mapbox CEO Eric Gundersen wrote on the company's blog. Their data visualizations and maps showcase its global pool of Human activity. This perspective on data is clutch as we expand our mobile play and turn anonymized aggregated data into a real-time updating map.

Human will continue to operate as a stand-alone app to track activity, and the five-member team will join Mapbox's 175-strong staff to work on its SDK, getting anonymized data from Human users.

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