How Hop on Hop off works
Hop on IRL with live streamers and uncover the world.
Hop on Hop off is a free web app for riding along live with people and vehicles that stream video and share live GPS at the same time: IRL streamers on Twitch, YouTube and Kick, truckers, cyclists, walkers, inland ships on European rivers, sightseeing boats, sailors and research ships with live deep-sea ROV dives. Pick one on the board, hop on, and watch the live stream next to a map that follows them – slow TV and live travel, with a real position.
Questions and answers
What is Hop on Hop off?
Hop on Hop off is a free web app for riding along live with people and vehicles that stream video and share live GPS at the same time: IRL streamers on Twitch, YouTube and Kick, truckers, cyclists, walkers, inland ships on European rivers, sightseeing boats, sailors and research ships with live deep-sea ROV dives. Pick one on the board, hop on, and watch the live stream next to a map that follows them – slow TV and live travel, with a real position.
How does the fog of world map work?
The world starts covered in fog, divided into zones of about 500 by 500 metres. Every zone a vehicle passes while you are watching is uncovered on your own map. The idea comes from the Fog of World app, but here you explore through other people's live journeys instead of your own phone's GPS.
What are the medals?
Every medal has five stars, like a hotel: the first comes quickly, five stars take years. There are medals for countries, regions and the 200 biggest cities, rivers and borders crossed, meridians and parallels, E-roads, streets named after famous people, Monopoly squares, landmarks and collections such as castles and lighthouses. Travellers with an account appear in the ranking, and every medal can be shared as a card.
Which live streams can I watch?
Only streams that also have a live position: IRL streamers on Twitch, YouTube and Kick, cameras on inland ships and sightseeing boats, research ships during ROV dives, sailors and long-distance riders with a tracker. The sources page shows every network and how active it is.
Do I need an account?
No. Your logbook works straight away in your browser. An account – username and password with email confirmation, or Google or Twitch – keeps your world and medals on every device and puts you in the ranking.
Is it free?
Yes. Hop on Hop off is free to use and runs without advertising trackers or analytics scripts.
Who makes it?
LivingMeta in Leiden, the Netherlands (info@livingmeta.ai). Streams and positions come from third parties; streamers who don't want to appear can opt out (see the privacy policy).
The medals
Every medal has five stars. These are the groups on the medals page:
- Exploring – Countries, regions, places and area you uncovered.
- On the road – Distance, time and the riders you travelled with.
- On board – Kilometres per kind of vehicle.
- Around the globe – Lines on the map, time zones and the far ends of the Earth.
- Heights and depths – How high, how low and how fast you went.
- Sky and weather – Sunrises, nights and whatever the weather brought.
- Spotted – Landmarks you passed and things you saw on the way.
- Named after – Streets named after famous people that you passed – the Kennedylaan, the Avenida Bolívar, the улица Ленина. Five stars means almost every one on Earth.
- Collections – Places with a McDonald's, a castle, a lighthouse … in one of your own 500 m zones. Five stars means almost every one on Earth. Logos are trademarks of their owners; Hop on Hop off is not affiliated with these brands.
- Cities – The 200 biggest cities on Earth, measured by their built-up area. Five stars means half of the city. Only cities you've been to are shown.
- Countries – Zones you uncovered per country. One zone gets you the first star; five stars means years of riding there. Only countries you've been to are shown.
Where the streams come from
Streams and positions come from public sources: IRL streamers who share their location (for example through RealtimeIRL), inland shipping and boat cameras with AIS positions, research ships during ROV dives, trackers of long-distance riders and sailors, and more. The sources page shows each network and how active it was this week. Hop on Hop off is not affiliated with Twitch, YouTube, Kick or RealtimeIRL.