CaptainMuffin

CaptainMuffin

Founder of BrightMaps :)

About

Student and solo founder building BrightMaps, a shade-smart walking and biking navigation app. I love urban design (and Minecraft), and I live in Atlanta :)

Badges

Tastemaker
Tastemaker
Gone streaking
Gone streaking

Maker History

  • BrightMaps
    BrightMapsShade-smart walking & biking
    Aug 2026
  • 🎉
    Joined Product HuntJuly 8th, 2026

Forums

BrightMaps: Shade-Smart walking and Biking

Hey everyone,

I'm Ilyess, (AKA CaptainMuffin) and i'm building BrightMaps, a walking and biking navigation app, and I wanted to share what i've been working on.

The core problem: every navigation app treats "shade" as either nonexistent or a rough approximation. I wanted actual street-level accuracy, which meant fusing three separate data sources:

  • Building shadow geometry, computed from building height and footprint data against real-time sun position

  • Tree canopy density, from NLCD (National Land Cover Database) raster data at the national level, with higher-resolution OSM tree data layered in for cities with full coverage

  • Live sun position, since shade coverage on a given street changes hour to hour, not just season to season

1d ago

BrightMaps - Shade-smart walking & biking

BrightMaps is a navigation app that routes you through the shade, not just the shortest path. Most maps only care about distance and speed. BrightMaps factors in tree canopy, building shadows, and time-of-day sun position to find routes that keep you cool and comfortable. Real shade data: building shadows, tree canopy, and live sun position, fused for 25 US metro areas with additional tree canopy shade available nationwide. See your route's shade before you go, know what you're walking into!
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