GISCafe Voice Industry Predictions for 2022 – Part 2

Two weeks ago our Industry Predictions took a look at NVIDIA’s foray into geospatial with artificial intelligence and their digital twin of the earth. This week builds on those themes, as Dr Aaron Morris, co-founder of Allvision and Shehzan Mohammed, Director of 3D Engineering and Ecosystems, Cesium peer into the crystal ball to find AI and Machine Learning (ML) making a significant impact on GIS of the future.

GeoSapient looks forward to the improvement of sustainability through environmental, social and governance (ESG) transparency and industry collaboration. And to weave it all together, according to John Kelly, president and co-founder of GeoSapient, digital twin technology with ESG “will help the operators place themselves at the center of a sustainable supply chain and trace specific products to their final use.”

Allvision

Dr. Aaron Morris, co-founder, Allvision

The need for digital twins will finally reach the forefront

Digital twins have long been the obvious and inevitable future for those in GIS or reality capture for as long as I been in this industry. The digital twin, the notion there exists an up-to-date, high-definition digital version of the physical world, has been “right around the corner” for at least a decade.  Standing firmly in 2022, however, we are still confronted with out-of-date GIS databases; as-designed documents being treated as as-builts; and responding to same RFPs that assume a one-time collection will create a database that will serve as a representation of real-world conditions for the next two-to-three years.

Such a mindset would be fine if it were not for last five years of investments in innovation such as autonomous vehicles, 5G, smart cities, smart buildings, electrification, IoT, and so on. For these transformational technologies to become reality, all of them will require a digital twin. Full stop, no if’s, and’s, or but’s. As these innovations move out of the conceptual phase and into use, the ever-increasing need for digital twin will become paramount. Therefore, 2022 is the year the “digital twin” gets the buzz and attention it deserves.

AI and ML will prove themself in GIS

AI is popping up everywhere and in everything. What started as a novel parlor trick for finding cat photos on the internet, has now matured into a necessary component in all software offerings. In addition, the pandemic and associated labor shortages, have push the need for automation everywhere, or as some call it, hyperautomation.

The need for more frequent and accurate digital representations of reality will also fuel the fire for automation in GIS applications. Therefore, 2022 will be the year AI, backed with machine learning (ML), will demonstrate unequivocally its value to the creation and maintenance of GIS databases.

Dr. Aaron Morris is an entrepreneur, roboticist, and a seasoned veteran of reality capture technology. Aaron obtained his doctorate in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2007 where he researched and developed 3D computer vision systems and self-driving, map-making robots. After graduation, Aaron founded and became CEO of Allpoint Systems, a company that commercialized computer vision solutions for the architectural, engineering and survey markets. Allpoint was acquired by the world’s leading design software company, Autodesk, in late 2012 where he supervised Autodesk’s Reality Solutions division. He left in 2017 to co-found Allvision, a startup creating digital replicas of cities and roads for better planning and management of critical asset infrastructure. Visit www.allvision.io to learn more. 

Shehzan Mohammed, Director of 3D Engineering and Ecosystems, Cesium

Cesium

In 2022, we are going to see more fusion of geospatial and game technology driving experiences that are increasingly realistic and immersive inside and outside of virtual reality. At the same time, exponential growth in AI algorithms that analyze and create better metadata and semantics will also lead to more interactive applications. As these two areas converge, the ability to create interactive digital twins of the real world will become more accessible and widespread.

At Cesium, we’re bridging the gap between the physical and digitals worlds by enabling geospatial for Unreal Engine, making it easier to stream massive geospatial datasets by advancing 3D Tiles, and advocating for a future metaverse that is open and interoperable. We look forward to collaborating with the geospatial community to make this possible in 2022.

– Shehzan Mohammed, Director of 3D Engineering and Ecosystems, Cesium

As Director of 3D Engineering & Ecosystems, Shehzan Mohammed oversees outward-facing engineering, partnerships, and customer support, working to promote the development of features that will have the greatest impact for Cesium’s users. He contributes to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) to advance open standards for geospatial applications and is part of several standards working groups and innovation programs. 

Shehzan also teaches GPU Programming and Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with an MSE in Computer Graphics and Game Technology in 2013.

GeoSapient

John L. Kelly, president & co-founder, GeoSapient

GeoSapient looks beyond the growing space- and aerial-borne assets into the deeper aspects of geocomputing data, workflows, and use cases.

Theme: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Innovation

1. ESG Monitoring & Reporting

Geospatial knowledge impacts the world economy—both directly (the GIS sector itself) and indirectly (other sectors powered by advances in GIS)—and continues to grow. The geospatial knowledge innovation ecosystem fuels a virtuous cycle with a growing economic impact. Our industry is engaged in a critical dialogue to improve sustainability through environmental, social and governance (ESG) transparency and industry collaboration. The rise of regulations and policies in different geographies related to sustainability is also moving the needle towards obligatory ESG reporting. Advanced GIS has a cornerstone place with current and future ESG efforts.

2. Satellite Growth & Specialization of Methane Detection & Surveillance for ESG

In the words of Peter Drucker, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” Measuring and then decreasing methane emissions is a powerful lever to slow down greenhouse warming. Applying satellite observations to infer methane emissions is of interest because these emissions are difficult to quantify from a bottom-up perspective. From the ESG perspective, we need to detect and surveil methane at multiple scales: global, regional, and point source observations. Combining advanced GIS with existing satellite and NewSpace platforms, methane observations from space will usher in a new era for ESG monitoring of methane emissions from the global scale down to point sources.

3. ESG Transformation with Digital Twin Technology

From our vantage point, a defining focus for 2022 will be a spirit of university, industry, and government collaboration, demolishing the go-it-alone strategy of yesteryear. The NewSpace community finds this particularly accelerating for new capabilities and the ability of consumers to make decisions rapidly. The development and use of digital twin technology will further underscore environmental, social and governance (ESG) transformation across all sectors of the world economy. For example, energy operators can use digital twins to reach their ESG goals. Digital twin technology powered by advanced GIS that recreates the physical realm will help the operators place themselves at the center of a sustainable supply chain and trace specific products to their final use.

John L. Kelley is President and Co-founder of GeoSapient, Inc. He has extensive experience in remote sensing systems engineering and associated geospatial applications. Before starting GeoSapient, Mr. Kelley spent most of his career developing remote sensing systems in the aerospace industry. Mr. Kelley’s passion is the subject of remote sensing of the Earth for environmental and geospatial applications. Driven by this passion, he co-founded GeoSapient to create a unique ‘Geospatial Knowledge’ platform not currently in existence. He also teaches Remote Sensing as an adjunct lecturer at Villanova University and has guest lectured on the subject.

Tags: Autodesk, autonomous vehicles, climate change, cloud, data, geospatial, GIS, GNSS, imagery, indoor mapping, Infrastructure, mapping, maps, mobile, navigation, reality modeling, remote sensing, satellite imagery, social media

Categories: 3D Cities, analytics, asset management, Autodesk, autonomous driving, Big Data, climate change, cloud, cloud network analytics, data, emergency response, ESG monitoring, field GIS, geospatial, GIS, government, GPS, location based services, mapping, Open Source, photogrammetry, public safety, remote sensing, resilient cities, satellite imagery, sensors, spatial data, survey, transportation

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