Rejected in less than 24 hours for unclear reasons.
I REALLY hope it’s not for the reasons I suspect…
To be clear, this is a framed piece of art in the public lobby of a hospital, well away from emergency routes, detailing local legal and social landmarks in LGBT history. I’d say it meets at least three of the Waypoint criteria.
First reaction would be that the mural is in a Hospital, therefore may be deemed as obstructing Emergency Service. I don’t know how flexible the criteria is regarding objects within the hospital, but that would be my first guess.
There are many other portals there, and this is on the main concourse that has shops and seating / eating areas.
The emergency accesses are on the other side of the building and I specified all this.
I don’t want to waste an appeal if I’ve tripped something immutable, but I’ve never seen an auto rejection so fast and for 'wayfarer criteria’s before.
I can’t comment on the other nominations that exist within the hospital. I can go only on what I understand. I’m happy to stand corrected by more experienced reviewers.
Niantic uses a “machine learning” AI tool to review all nominations. This filters out a lot of “crap” that gets nominated but unfortunately also does reject some high quality candidates. It’s difficult to guess what “logic” was used and for many reasons Niantic does not disclose too much.
They also do manually review some nominations. When they do, the feedback isn’t always useful.
“Wayfarer criteria” is only available to be given to a nomination if marked as such by Niantic.
The concern with obstructing emergency services is valid, even if there are other Portals present. Additionally, “public lobby of a hospital” may still be used for emergency uses.
I can guarantee that it is no more used for handling public emergencies than any other public area could be. It’s not close to anything critical.
As I say, there are shops and seating facilities in the immediate area.
Appeal time, I guess.
And was that provided in your original nomination? Do you have evidence to back this up that you can provide in your appeal?
I am not challenging your opinion but I’d like to give you things to consider for your appeal.
Hi @00witsd
Can you share the whole nomination you made. Title, photos, all text.
I believe this has an opportunity to get in. But to give better (or worse depending on your view 
advice can you share the whole thing please.
As a piece of art it looks like it is a goer. But it always the rest of it
Thanks
I wonder if the ML model was confused by the framing of the sign in the photo? I would have made sure to include a border all the way around the art to give context to what I am presenting and cropped out the extra wall above and below. I would have either turned my photo sideways or cropped to square.
If you decide to try the nomination again before you appeal (you get 2 appeals, each on a 20 day timer before you can use it again) then you might try taking a new main photo, something like this but including the border all the way around:
ML rejections are usually around 20-24 hours after submitting, so you won’t have to wait long to see if it gets into voting that way.
(Not trying to give tips on how to “trick” the ai, just suggesting ways the art could be best featured for the Wayspot.)
I nominated a featured piece of fine art in a hospital about a year ago. I made clear that it was in a public concourse/corridor and not near to clinical, emergency or health practice areas.
My nomination was rejected by Niantic Voting. I suspect they outsource much of their ‘in-house’ reviews of sensitive matters to a low low bidding company in an under-developed country. They’re unfamiliar with my country’s cultural norms, Niantic’s games, and Wayfarer’s ins and outs, so when they see ‘hospital’ they reject.
I appealed the rejection, restating the broad access, non-clinical location, and cultural significance of the artwork. My appeal was quickly accepted.
If you appeal, I am hopeful that you can expect the same positive result.
It’s hard to fully judge this without knowing what was listed for the entire nomination. Title, location, supporting photo and info would be helpful.
I would take a better photo, one in landscape instead of portrait, to get a better photo of the art piece. It’s a landscape art piece, so a photo in landscape may be better than one in portrait, as it eliminates some of the excess/unneeded space.
I also agree that the supporting photo and info should note that it’s in an area of a hospital that isn’t obstructing emergency services and safe to access. Again, this isn’t info that’s been provided, so can’t fully say if that was why it was rejected.
Lastly, maybe ML saw this as a fabric flag that can be removed at anytime instead of an art piece. There is a sheen on the piece, so it does appear permanent to me, but maybe ML thought differently.
I’ll add that I often submit with pictures 16:9 (a standard crop option) because that’s how Ingress crops. They go thru fine. Or a square (knowing Ingress will chop a sixth off the top and a sixth off the bottom). Also goes thru fine. So use whichever fits the subject best.
