by Matt Ball on May 23, 2012
This content first appeared in Informed Infrastructure. Hexagon AB today announced the acquisition of myVR, provider of software for photorealistic 2D, 3D, and 360-degree visualization of interactive maps over low-bandwidth connections. The Norwegian company compresses large 3D models for viewing on many platforms, including mobile phones and tablets. The 3D city model viewing and 3D [...]
by Matt Ball on April 29, 2012
A recent paper [PDF] by M. Shoko and Njike, presented at the first Conference on Advances in Geomatics Research, looks at the importance of spatial data infrastructure (SDI) for economic health and recovery for Zimbabwe. SDI provides access to spatial information for decision making, and is said to play a vital role for both government [...]
by Matt Ball on April 26, 2012
It’s funny, my first reaction to the Trimble buys SketchUp news was that it was some kind of spoof, and I checked the link and site closely. It was surprising, because who knew that Google was selling anything, and while very strategic for both Trimble and Google, it’s hard to imagine how this went down. [...]
by Matt Ball on April 26, 2012
Trimble has announced today the agreement to acquire SketchUp from Google. This is very interesting news for the advancement of 3D modeling, with potential to tie more directly to data capture tools through the many handheld and scanning technologies that the company provides. Trimble will partner with Google on running and developing SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse. [...]
by Matt Ball on April 23, 2012
MineRP has been working to enable underground tracking for use in mines with precise real-time position in three dimensions. The tracking solution uses wireless wi-fi and RFID tracking over wireless networks, with triangulation based on signal strength aiding the position fix. MineRP has been delivering new visual reporting functionality for mining through their SpatialDB database, [...]
by Matt Ball on April 19, 2012
UK-based Measurement Devices Ltd. (MDL) has developed a tiny eye-safe micro laser for the mobile phone market that could revolutionize field data collection. The Micro Laser Module can make hundreds of measurement a second for objects within a 120-meter radius. Now that the hardware has been developed it is being marketed to original equipment manufacturers [...]
by Matt Ball on April 14, 2012
leerstandsmelder.de, a website used to map vacant buildings in German cities, has gained a great deal of local press, and now counts Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen, Kaiserlauten and Frankfurt as mapped. The site continues to build out its inventory of vacant buildings with the goal of seeing these unused assets put to use. The site is [...]
by Matt Ball on April 8, 2012
King County, Washington (home of Seattle) has recently undertaken an in-depth look at the value that the county has received from their GIS investment. Professor Richard Zerbe from the University of Washington’s Center for Benefit-Cost Analysis conducted the study that spans from 1992 to 2010. The report totals the investment over this 18-year span at [...]
by Matt Ball on April 2, 2012
The Swedish furniture maker Ikea has recently launched a new property development branch called LandProp Services to build neighborhoods. The company kicks off this effort with a 11-hectare development in East London called Strand East that isn’t far from the 2012 Olympics site. The site is to have 1,200 homes and apartments, with office, retail [...]
by Matt Ball on March 29, 2012
The UK Centre for Sustainable Energy, part of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, has developed a heat map that maps heat use at the building level. The aim of the effort is to determine which areas are best suited to district heating where groups of buildings share the same boiler and drive down [...]