Across the globe there are millions of 'letters' and 'numbers' hiding among buildings and in the landscape of the Earth. The shapes can be spotted in satellite images and include buildings shaped like the letter 'A', trees planted in the shape of an 'E' and circular marks in the landscape that resemble 'Os' or zeros. A pair of designers has created a tool to help seek out these natural and manmade shapes and is hoping to use the findings to develop software as well as a new font. The Aerial Bold project was set up by German designer Benedikt Groß and geographer Joey Lee. Their tool lets people scour Mapbox images to find letters, numbers and characters in the landscape (pictured) The project began as a Kickstarter campaign, set up by German designer and computer scientist Benedikt Groß and Californian geographer Joey Lee. They raised $11,492 (£7,630) and have since set up the Aerial Bold crowdsourcing tool. ‘While satellites orbit around the Earth taking thousands of images each day, we have limited idea about what unique features actually live on those photographs,’ said the pair. ‘Aerial Bold is as much about developing new methods of mapping features on the Earth’s surface, as it is about generating the first map and typeface of the planet. German researchers recently developed a computer system  that can scan Google Earth satellite images looking for faces. Called Google Faces, it was developed by German design studio Onformative and uses an algorithm that can highlight land masses and terrains with face-like features. The system scans the world, switches to the next zoom level, and starts the scan again taking snapshots and coordinates of the faces it finds. Seeing faces and other shapes in objects and landscapes is known as pareidolia. It is also the tendency to hear hidden messages when songs are played backwards. Human eyes can spot faces, letters and numbers easily and this helps them recognise friends and see patterns. It is harder for computers to mimic this behaviour and software must be trained to do so. ‘In order to develop the smartest and robust letterform detection and classification algorithm, we need to find dozens of real world "training data" for each letter, number, or character that we are interested in including in Aerial Bold. ‘These training data include examples all of the possible shapes of "A's", "Z's", "6's", "❤'s", and so on that we might be able to see in aerial imagery.’ This database will help researchers at the Institute for Artificial Intelligence at HS Weingarten to automate what the designers call ‘the planetary search for letterforms.’ Once trained, this algorithm could be used to automatically find words and letters on images. One example could be to find business addresses using visual search - such as all shops on a Street View map where people can buy lottery tickets. The tool lets people scan through Mapbox satellite images and catalogue all the letters, numbers and characters they find. Users begin with a grid divided into 21 rectangles. The exact location of the satellite imagery isn’t revealed. The software will suggest letters, numbers or characters in each rectangle and this will be displayed with a corresponding number. These suggestions can then be placed over the relevant part of the map. For example, within a rectangle the software may have recognised the letters ‘s’ and ‘e’ but the selection boxes are placed in the centre. It is the ‘hunter’s’ job to move the selection box to sit above the letter. They then rotate and resize the box to make the selection as accurate as possible. Each time a box is placed above a letter the user must click Update Geometry to add it to the database. To add a new letter that the software hasn’t suggested, click ‘Add New’, type the letter and reposition the box. Users begin with a grid divided into 21 rectangles. The software will suggest letters, numbers or characters in each rectangle and this will be displayed by a number. These suggestions can then be placed over the relevant part of the map (pictured). Once Update Geometry is clicked, the letters are added to a database . It is hoped this database will help researchers at the Institute for Artificial Intelligence at HS Weingarten to automate what the designers call ‘the planetary search for letterforms.’ A selection of letters that have been found using the tool are pictured with their respective locations and co-ordinates . Once a grid has been explored the ‘Submit Task’ button in the bottom left-hand corner becomes active and the user is taken to another location. People can search for letters either anonymously or by adding a credit name to the discoveries. And they are added to a leaderboard as soon as they find more than ten letters. The top ‘hunter’ is currently Marco Berends with 365, and more than 500 letters, numbers and characters in total have been spotted. German researchers recently developed a computer system  that similarly scans satellite images looking for faces. Called Google Faces, it was developed by German design studio Onformative and uses an algorithm that can highlight land masses and terrains with face-like features. People can search for letters (examples shown) either anonymously or by adding a credit name to the discoveries. They are then added to a leaderboard as soon as they find more than ten letters. The top ‘hunter’ is currently Marco Berends with 365, and more than 500 shapes in total have been spotted. German researchers recently developed a computer system that similarly scans satellite images looking for faces. This face was found in the Magadan Oblast region of Russia, in the Far Eastern Federal District of the country. This part of the world is mainly made up of mountainous desert, tundra, and forests . The system scans the world, switches to the next zoom level, and starts the scan again taking snapshots and coordinates of the faces it finds. Seeing faces and other shapes in objects and landscapes is known as pareidolia. It is also the tendency to hear hidden messages when songs are played backwards. Human eyes can spot faces, letters and numbers easily and this helps them recognise friends and see patterns. It is harder for computers to mimic this behaviour and software must be trained to do so. This image is one of the faces found in the UK. It was taken next to Priory Road in Ashford in Kent and could be either a human face in profile, or the face of an animal. Trees appear to form the face's mouth and nostrils . Another image captured by the Google Faces project in Russia. This grumpy-looking face was found in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the Russian Far East - an area also known as Yevrey .
The project began as a Kickstarter campaign that was funded in November . It was set up by designer Benedikt Groß and  geographer Joey Lee . They raised $11,492 (£7,630) and have since set up a crowdsourcing tool . Called Aerial Bold, it lets people scan through Mapbox satellite images . They then catalogue all the letters, numbers and characters they can find . Database will develop a letterform detection and classification algorithms .