"Place is not a location."
Chora is the first Python library designed to model the human experience of place. It moves beyond standard GIS (geometry + coordinates) to simulate how places emerge from memory, habit, and social interaction.
Standard tools ask: "What is at Lat/Lon 51.5, -0.1?" Chora asks: "Why does this park feel like 'Home' to Alice, but 'Danger' to Bob?"
| 🧠 Cognitive | 🕰 Temporal | 🕸 Relational |
|---|---|---|
| Models Familiarity & Memory decay over time. | Places emerge and dissolve dynamically. |
A "Place" is a graph of Encounters, not a polygon. |
- Experiential Physics: Built-in decay functions (
linear,exponential) simulate how memories fade without reinforcement. - Emergent Places: "Place" is not stored; it is computed on-the-fly from the history of interaction.
- Practice Detection: Algorithms to detect Routines, Habits, and Rituals from GPS traces.
- H3 Spatial Indexing: Hexagonal grids for multi-resolution place analysis.
- Vibe Search: Vector embeddings for semantic place similarity.
- LLM Integration: Generate place narratives with OpenAI/Anthropic/Ollama.
- Real-time Streaming: Process live GPS traces with dwell detection.
- Graph Native: Built on Property Graphs, exportable to Neo4j and D3.js.
pip install chora-geofrom chora.core import PlatialGraph, Agent, SpatialExtent, Encounter, PlatialEdge
from chora.derive import update_familiarity
# 1. Create the world
graph = PlatialGraph("My World")
alice = Agent.individual("Alice")
park = SpatialExtent.from_point(-0.1, 51.5, name="Hyde Park")
# 2. Add to the graph
graph.add_node(alice)
graph.add_node(park)
# 3. Alice visits the park (An Encounter)
visit = Encounter(agent_id=alice.id, extent_id=park.id)
graph.add_node(visit)
graph.add_edge(PlatialEdge.participates_in(alice.id, visit.id))
# 4. Derive Familiarity
fam = update_familiarity(graph, visit)
print(f"Alice's familiarity with Park: {fam.value:.2f}")
# -> "Alice's familiarity with Park: 0.15"Find places by semantic description:
from chora.search import vibe_search
results = vibe_search(graph, "quiet peaceful park for reading")
# Returns: [(park, 0.87), (garden, 0.72), ...]| Guide | Description |
|---|---|
| GPS to Places | Process traces into meaningful places |
| Affective Mapping | Map emotions to locations |
| Detecting Routines | Find habits & patterns |
| Visualization | D3.js graphs & reports |
| H3 Indexing | Hexagonal spatial analysis |
| Version | Status | Features |
|---|---|---|
| v0.5 | ✅ | Core, Tests, CI/CD, Docs |
| v0.9 | ✅ | CLI, Notebooks, Visualization |
| v1.0 | ✅ | H3, Embeddings, LLM, Streaming |
| v2.0 | 🚧 | Social Physics, Digital Twins |
We welcome contributions from Geographers, Developers, and Philosophers. See CONTRIBUTING.md to join the project.
Built with ❤️ for the Platial Turn.