About

Mapper's Delight is a virtual and augmented reality, sculptural data visualization and collaboration tool built on semantic relationships of tens of thousands of rap lyrics. It shows how rappers cover the globe with references to cities, neighborhoods and regions, using augmented and virtual reality to put music and language at your fingertips. Explorers can discover how the world's most popular form of poetry and performance engages language arts, STEM, and cultural and data literacy for the 21st century.

User Guide

Mapper’s Delight AR Quickstart Guide:

Registration

1. Create an an account at verizon.com/learning

2. Navigate to the Mapper's Delight page here.

3. Locate and write down your Educator Access Code.

4. Next, educators sign in at rapalmanac.com/learning using the same email used to register at verizon.com/learning and the Educator Access Code generated at verizon.com/learning.

5. Download the Mapper's Delight iOS app from the Appstore here.

6. Sign in to the Mapper's Delight iOS app using the same email and Educator Access Code.

7. Educators can create student rosters and assign student passcodes in their dashboard at rapalmanac.com

8. Students log in to the Mapper's Delight app using the teacher's email address and the passcode they were assigned by the Educator in the roster.

Gameplay

1. Print out the Mapper’s Delight AR target marker here.

2. Launch Mappers Delight by tapping the icon once it has downloaded. Grant the app access to your camera so that AR features can be used. The app will only make this request once.

3. Register your session, and choose a content filtering setting. Email address: Mapper’s Delight keeps track of your interactions (playback and searches) by identifying your session with an email address. This address is used for communication between the application and the Rap Research Lab servers to manage multiplayer sessions. Use the email address you provided to gain access to the RapAlmanac.com database. Content filter: Mapper’s Delight presents the option of filtering content so that songs with inappropriate language cannot be played back. To activate the content filter, indicate that you are not older than 18.

4. Play in Marker or Solo Mode. Mapper’s Delight launches with a prompt to “TAP TO PLACE GLOBE” which will put you in Solo Mode. Alternatively, you can point your device’s camera at the AR marker you downloaded and printed which will put you in Marker Mode.

   • Solo Mode. Use the circle that is overlaid on your view to anchor the globe on a nearby surface or the floor. Point your camera at the surface or floor, and tap in the circle. The globe will appear and scale accordingly. You can walk around and through the globe while playing. Go to step 4 below for interface details.

   • Marker Mode. Point your device’s camera at the AR marker. The globe will appear above it, and is ready for you to explore. In Marker Mode, anyone pointing their device at the same marker is in the same session. All users in a session share search functionality and can see which songs others have interacted with.

   • Switching between Marker and Solo Mode. Mapper’s Delight remembers which mode you are in, so if your device goes to sleep, wake it and point it at the AR marker to rejoin the session; You can switch from Marker to Solo Mode by tapping the SOLO MODE button on the screen. To enter Marker Mode and join a session, point your device’s camera at the AR marker.

5. Interface Overview. Mapper’s Delight is easy to learn, but here are some additional details that will ensure the best experience.

   • Interacting with the globe. Each pin or Point of Interaction (POI) represents a place on Earth that a rapper mentions in a song lyric. Tap a POI to hear that audio sample and view information about the associated song, artist, and location. Tap a POI with two fingers to stop an audio sample from playing and dismiss a data card. When an audio sample is done playing, the data card will disappear, and the POI will change color to indicate that you have interacted with it.

     1. AR Tracking. In Marker Mode, the relative position of your device’s camera and the AR marker determines the position and size of the globe. Try to keep the AR marker within view of your device’s camera. 

     2. Positioning yourself and the globe. You cannot pinch to zoom in or swipe to rotate the globe. Move your device and or your body to get a different view of the globe, and to access different POIs. The global volume of Mapper’s Delight is controlled by your device, but the relative volume of different audio samples is determined by your device’s virtual distance from the POI. Try getting closer to a POI while the audio is playing to get a closer listen.

     3. Color coding. Each Mapper’s Delight user is automatically assigned a color. In Marker Mode, each user in a session gets a different color and players can see which POIs have already been interacted with. Tapping a POI always changes its color to that of the user that is doing the tapping. Songs with missing or censored audio will show up in red.

   • Search. You can search the RapAlmanac.com database from within Mapper’s Delight AR. Tap the SEARCH button and enter your query. The app will render the globe with POIs that point to the hometowns of the rappers whose lyrics contain your search query. Red POIs indicate censored results, or results that do not have an associated audio file.

     1. Search lock-out. Searches can be performed one at a time. In Marker Mode, all players in the same session (determined by the AR marker) are notified when a search is submitted and who did so (based on the email address provided at login). In Marker Mode users take turns searching, and a one minute interval is enforced.

     2. Reset. Tapping the RESET button restores the globe to its default configuration. In Marker Mode this will affect all users in the session.

   • Login. To change the email address associated with your session or to switch the content filter mode, tap the LOGIN button.

Though the Mapper’s Delight AR interface is reasonably intuitive, those who are not familiar with AR should be aware of the following:

• The tracking marker can be moved around while the app is running, and explorers are encouraged to do so even as they are physically repositioning themselves to get different views of the globe. Mapper’s Delight AR interaction is inspired by the Hiphop DJ’s repertoire of gestures for manipulating sound (scratching,) and by their search-engine-like relationship to archives of recorded music.
  

• Explorers may have to position their devices as if they were using a magnifying glass in order to interact with the various map pins that trigger events.
  

• Initial exploration of the Mapper’s Delight AR globe will be chaotic as Explorers play with the interface. They will be triggering samples, dialoguing with each other, and possibly physically jostling as they investigate their spatial relationship to the virtual image on their devices screen. After 5-10 minutes of exploration, have Explorers engage with the concepts in our lesson plans as discussions or as a written exercises.

Privacy Notice

Effective Date: July 14, 2021

Last updated May 27, 2022

Thank you for choosing to be part of our community at Rap Research Lab ("Company", "we", "us", "our"). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy notice, or our practices with regards to your personal information, please contact us at info@ rapresearchlab.com.

The RapAlmanac.com website and Mapper’s Delight mobile application (the “App”), are owned and operated by Rap Research Lab. RapAlmanac.com provides a database of metadata about hip hop music and is intended for hip hop research. The App is an interactive globe which allows users to see the geographic references in a database of hip hop music. It also allows users to play short samples of each song. RapAlmanac.com is intended for use by teachers, researchers, and students. The App is intended for use by teachers and students. 

When you use any of our services (the "Services", which include the App), we appreciate that you are trusting us with your personal information. We take your privacy seriously. In this privacy notice, we seek to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it and what rights you have in relation to it. We hope you take some time to read through it carefully, as it is important. If there are any terms in this privacy notice that you do not agree with, please discontinue use of our Services immediately.

This privacy notice applies to all information collected through our Services (which, as described above, includes our App).

Please read this privacy notice carefully as it will help you understand what we do with the information that we collect.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?

3. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?

4. SERVICE PROVIDERS AND THIRD PARTIES

5. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

6. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

7. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?

8. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES

9. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?

10. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?

11. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?

1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?
Personal information you disclose to us

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register on the App, express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the App (such as by posting messages in our online forums or entering competitions, contests or giveaways) or otherwise when you contact us.

The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the App, the choices you make and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following:

Personal Information We Collect From You

full name, email address; and passwords

All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.

Personal Information We Collect from Children

We do not actively collect personal information from children and students. We collect some information automatically from all users

We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use or navigate the App. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our App and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our App, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.

The information we collect includes:

• Log and Usage Data. Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our App and which we record in log files. Depending on how you interact with us, this log data may include your IP address, device information, browser type and settings and information about your activity in the App (such as the date/time stamps associated with your usage, pages and files viewed, searches and other actions you take such as which features you use), device event information (such as system activity, error reports (sometimes called 'crash dumps') and hardware settings).

• Mobile Device Access. We may request access or permission to certain features from your mobile device, including your mobile device's camera, sensors, and other features. If you wish to change our access or permissions, you may do so in your device's settings.

This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our App, for troubleshooting and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.

2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?

We use the personal information collected via our App for a variety of purposes to support Rap Research Lab and to continue to provide the service to users. These purposes include: improving and developing the service, communicating with users about the service, and security/maintaining a trusted environment. 

3. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?

We only share information, to comply with laws, to provide you with services, to protect your rights, or to fulfill business obligations.

More specifically, we may need to process your data or share your personal information in the following situations:

• Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.

4. SERVICE PROVIDERS AND THIRD PARTIES

Mapper’s Delight uses Unity analytics to better understand your use of the app and to provide you with the best experience. Unity analytics does not share your data with any other third parties. For more information on the Unity, please visit the privacy policy: https://unity3d.com/legal/privacy-policy

If you would like further information about the use of service providers in the app, please email us at info@rapresearchlab.com

5. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require us to keep your personal information for longer than six months after the time in which users have an account with us.

6. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security, and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our App is at your own risk. You should only access the App within a secure environment.

https://apps.apple.com/developer/rap-research-lab/id1508894142

Our service may link out to other services. Rap Research Lab is not responsible for other sites or services. If you are leaving our service please be sure to check the privacy policies of any sites or services you visit.

7. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?

A parent may review your information at any time and may have it deleted. 

You may email us at support@rapresearchlab.com to review or delete your information.

Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate and delete your account and information from our databases. However, we may retain some information such as play history in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our Terms of Use and/or comply with applicable legal requirements.

8. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES

Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice.

9. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?

California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the "Shine The Light" law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below.

If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the App, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the App. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below, and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the App, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from all our systems (e.g. backups, etc.).