Whether by satellite or airplane, the Earth's surface is constantly being surveyed for up-to-date imagery. The recorded data is then used by private companies and municipalities for insurance purposes, urban planning, emergency response situations, and more.

Unfortunately these traditional methods of terrain imaging are slow and expensive. Moreover, the resolution of the images captured is low. To solve these problems, a project called Spexi has been working on a blockchain-based solution that involves drones.

In this article, we will cover how Spexi works, its real-world applications, and the upcoming launch of the SPEXI token.

The Spexi Network

Spexi is a platform that incentivizes drone pilots (often hobbyists) to capture standardized high-resolution aerial imagery of Earth using a "Fly-to-Earn" model.

The drones deployed by the Spexi network can capture images at 900 times higher resolution, 200 times faster, and 50 times cheaper than the aforementioned traditional alternatives.

Furthermore, by crowdsourcing imagery through a blockchain-based decentralized network, Spexi ensures scalability, transparency, and data integrity.

What purpose does the imagery serve?

Spexi Use-Cases

The high-resolution imagery taken by Spexi's network can be used to:

Enable geospatial AI models for detecting land use, infrastructure risk, and environmental changes
Facilitate urban planning, infrastructure monitoring, and emergency response
Optimize routes, especially for last-mile delivery where accuracy is critical
Assess risk, verify claims, and monitor properties for insurance purposes
Select sites, plan, and monitor construction of real-estate developments

How Spexi Works

Unlike many other DePIN projects, Spexi started from the demand-side first, before rolling out the supply-side (as opposed to Helium, for example, which rolled-out wireless hotspots before the demand existed). As businesses or municipalities request terrain imagery, the jobs to capture the data are assigned to a decentralized network of drone pilots.

By completing missions with compatible drones, pilots earn Reputation Points, which will be convertible to SPEXI tokens at a later date. A mission entails arriving at the specified location, launching a drone using Spexi's app, allowing the drone to autonomously scan the terrain below, and then uploading the captured imagery to the LayerDrone network.

For the time being, the pilot's presence during the process is necessary for safety. In the future however, autonomous drones might be able to fly themselves to keep the imagery up-to-date. Until then, pilot supervision will be required.

Reputation Points (RP) track a pilot's reputation, and are currently used by pilots to reserve open "Spexigon" missions to map more terrain. Non-pilot contributions to LayerDrone, like providing community support, are rewarded in Experience Points (XP).

The SPEXI Token

The Spexi team expects to reach their mainnet launch by mid-2025, at which point the points earned will be converitible into blockchain-based tokens. They have already engaged with regulators and token economists to create a system that is beneficial to both contributors and data buyers alike.

In the future, the SPEXI token will be required to purchase imaging data from the network, closing the economic loop. In addition, the token will be used by stakeholders to vote on governance decisions, allowing the community to help shape the future of the project.

Until next time...

Spexi's novel combination of high-resolution modern drones with blockchain-based token incentives could revolutionize the way we image the Earth's terrain. This project is definitely worth keeping an eye on as we enter into the new crypto-powered economy.

If you learned something new from this article, be sure to check out my other posts on crypto and finance here on the Hive blockchain. You can also follow me on InLeo for more frequent updates.

Sources

DePINed Interview With Spexi Founder [1]
The LayerDrone Network [2]
Spexi on the DePIN Hub [3]
Spexi Pilots Webpage [4]

DePIN Spotlight: Spexi - A Crowdsourced, High-Resolution Earth Imaging Solution