by Vas Mylko, Roman Bilusiak
Today we are introducing Curious Mexico. We have tested it on a bunch of travel stories trying to recreate them as the interactive versions of the original plain texts. This allows us to test the density and quality of the knowledge graph (points, POIs, relations). Then, we modify the original trip plans by points, duration, money to see what’s possible, to let the AI improvise, and to validate that the proposed stuff is very interesting.
Aztec Trip
“I got offered the job of producing and directing a two-part series about Aztec pyramids for Science Channel in the US and Channel 4 in the UK…” Passport & Pixels.
“In December 2019 (before the pandemic hit, in case you were wondering about masks and social distancing) we flew to Mexico to film all of the main Aztec archaeological sites and interview the top archaeologists, none of whom spoke a word of English. Nothing like a challenge to keep you on your toes! Along the way, we got to visit some pretty cool places…” Passport & Pixels.
Drive Through Mexico
“Mexico is geographically large, culturally diverse, and has a depth of history that’s difficult to reconcile when you fly from one interesting spot to another. Sure, it’s faster, but you miss the in-between, the glue, the context, when you leapfrog about the country on planes. If you want to sew Mexico’s glorious diversity of places together, a roadtrip is in order.” Condé Nast Traveler.
“On a drive from San Miguel de Allende, smack-dab in the center of the country, to Punta Mita on the western coast, we had nothing but incredible views, fun snack stops, and hours to contemplate the expansive landscape.” Condé Nast Traveler.
From Mexico City to Cancun
“From Mexico‘s capital to its most famous oceanside paradise — Cancun. If you have time and stamina for an extended drive, there are dozens of wonderful towns, sights and adventures along the way. Here’s what we suggest for getting a good taste of what southern coastal Mexico has to offer.” The Culture Trip.
This is ultimate. The original travel story is indeed entitled “The Ultimate Roadtrip from Mexico City to Cancun”, The Culture Trip.
Ultimate Baja California
“Removed from the Mexican mainland, Baja California has evolved its own distinct aesthetic and culture. From low-key towns with just the right amount of civilization to unmarked dusty roads awaiting exploration, Baja has a charm that keeps those who know coming back for more.” Lonely Planet.
We made sure the “end of the land” Cabo San Lucas is present in the route.
Weird routing has been discovered — instead of routing down the peninsula the road is taking a detour via the continent. This is obviously a bug in the routing engine, most probably in the OpenStreetMap. The instance that we are using is either broken or damaged. There is a gap on the road:-O
We know how to fix this. We will update the routing in this corner of Mexico in the near future.
Why Mexico?
Mexico and Turkey have a specific administrative order — it’s hard to distinguish between the district and the town with the same name. We solidified the semantic part of Ingeenee while doing Mexico. Our friends from Houston and Austin, TX asked for the opportunity to drive from the United States to Mexico and back, with a cool itinerary in Mexico as the primary destination.
For a traveler-user, Curiosio looks and works as a neat clean web app. On the other side of the browser, it is high-tech, brand new AI that we created and grown. Curiosio is a high-tech startup. The AI is becoming smarter with the number of countries we are covering. Like a child — exposure to diverse and various contexts and games make him/her smarter faster. Our semantic tech and AI engine Ingeenee are becoming smarter faster from exposure to more countries.
South Africa is the edge case with fully land-locked Lesotho and almost land-locked Eswatini. The United Kingdom is a cluster of several states: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland. Italy is very specific — there are no gaps between the communes, and there is Sardinia. France is so rich with content that it is the edge case for the data volumes, and there is Corsica. Germany consists of the federal lands, with some historical peculiarities between them. Quantity is converting to quality.
What’s Next?
Three years ago it took 1 year to release 1 country. Then, we reduced it to 3 months per country. Then, to 1 month per country. Today we are releasing a country in 1 week. We are going to release 3 countries in 10 days or so. They are going to be India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. After that, we will attempt to release 5 countries in 10 days. They are going to be Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia.
Thank you for reading. Here is a direct link to Mexico for you to play with. Stay tuned and follow your curiosity!
