In an increasingly virtual world, the need for managing and storing data is crucial.
With the drone and virtual reality industries growing rapidly, Mappix might be the convenient management platform drone pilots and companies have been searching for.
Madison-based Mappix aims to overcome the lack of data management in drone imaging. Acting as a social network for drone pilots and aerial imaging, Mappix will provide a unified resource for managing, storing, promoting and discovering drone images.
The platform will allow users to more efficiently manage their drone images and media through geotagging, making Mappix a user-friendly system that means users don’t have to move their drone media to a centralized location.
According to CEO Christopher Johnson, the company’s product is the first system of its kind supplying free drone pilot training. Partnering with Pilot Training System, the company provides a free course for users to become certified commercial drone pilots.
Johnson, an Air Force veteran with years of experience instructing drone pilots at Wisconsin Aviation, wants to make this course readily available and free to the public. The course has been up and running since March and has more than 48,000 subscribers on YouTube.
By introducing Mappix to the commercial drone industry, this platform will make drone imaging and media easily found and ease transactions between drone pilots and companies.
“My vision for Mappix is to create a robust, world-wide, image repository where people can buy, sell and share geotagged drone imagery for things like creating virtual reality models,” Johnson said.
There has been a spike in commercial drone industry growth over the past couple of years. Business Insider Intelligence estimates drone services market size will see a $59.2 billion increase from 2018 to 2025. The increasing demand for aerial photography and remote sensing has spurred interest.
With thousands of companies already using drones for image-based analysis, remote sensing and inspections, infrastructure modeling and making digital replications of the world, the demand for pilots and imaging management is massive.
With the company already creating thousands of certified drone pilots through the Pilot Training System, Mappix will provide a free tool for managing their drone images and media.
Selected from a large list of applicants, Johnson presented Mappix to investors at the 2020 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium this week. Johnson hopes to launch a beta version to its current subscribers later this month.
Listen to a recent episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” with Johnson: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2020/wisbusiness-the-podcast-with-chris-johnson-program-director-at-wisconsin-aviation/
-By Maya Sanghvi
Sanghvi is a student in the UW-Madison Department of Life Sciences Communication.
