GISCafe Voice spoke with Lisa Cali, Senior Product Manager, IndoorViewer about NavVis’s latest software upgrade to their web-based application NavVis IndoorViewer. A provider of indoor spatial intelligence technology, NavVis is now able to automatically convert E57 point cloud files into interactive, realistic 360° walkthroughs, with the latest software upgrade to IndoorViewer.
NavVis IndoorViewer Upgrade Automatically Renders 360° Immersive Imagery from E57 Point Clouds. Top photo: E57 point cloud file, captured by a static laser scanner Bottom photo: E57 point cloud file automatically converted into an immersive 360° walkthrough in NavVis IndoorViewer
As our U.S. Census nears its next collection in 2020, Hexagon Geospatial takes on the globe with its latest Census launch that takes into account the UN sustainable development goals.
“Going digital” has been a Bentley Systems theme that evolved further in London at the Bentley Year In Infrastructure 2018 conference, held at the Hilton London Metropole this past week.
In July 2018, a deeply disturbing and violent video began to circulate on social media. Taking place in Cameroon, it depicts two women and two young children being led at gunpoint away from a village by a group of Cameroonian soldiers. Blindfolded, the victims are forced to the ground and shot 22 times by the soldiers.
While it’s still early for most of us to be thinking about the 2020 Census, it is not too early for the U.S. Census and most technology providers of Census software to be considering how to prepare.
Michael Ratcliffe, Asst. Division Chief, Geographic Standards, Criteria, Research, and Quality, Geography Division, US Census Bureau, spoke with GISCafe Voice about what the 2020 Census requires, and the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA).
With regard to the 2020 Census, an accurate address file for each state is essential, otherwise each state could lose millions of dollars in federal funding. It can also affect state budget obviously, and number of seats in Congress (determined by count).
What are ways the Census can ensure everyone gets counted in 2020?
Our goal is a complete and accurate census.
An accurate count helps determine how the nation allocates tax dollars to pay for services used by the entire local population — citizens and noncitizens alike and accurate data are crucial for determining how many congressional seats each state gets.
We need communities to help us spread the word that all census responses are confidential and we will continue working with trusted voices in local communities to encourage people to participate.
What are any new requirements for the 2020 LUCA program for identifying individuals and how do they contrast with past requirements?
Will townships, tribes, cities and counties submit their Census figures to the state or submit them independently?
The Census is self-response only. Census numbers are not compiled by any organization other than the Census Bureau. Residents should provide their 2020 Census responses to the Census Bureau only.
Will citizenship status be included in this collection?
3DR, the creators of Site Scan, announced recently it has entered into a partnership with Esri, to develop Site Scan Esri Edition, a customized version of its full end-to-end Site Scan product. Esri product manager for Drone2Map for ArcGIS and Full Motion Video Cody Benkelman spoke with GISCafe Voice about the upcoming development and the Site Scan Esri Edition.
“Site Scan Esri Edition is an app focused exclusively on providing flight planning,” said Benkelman. “something Esri does not provide, and our customers have been requesting.”
The Esri Site Scan Edition app is designed to be used with Esri’s Drone2Map for ArcGIS software for post processing in ArcGIS, and full drone project mission planning for transferring drone captured data into the Esri ArcGIS ecosystem. There is also drone processing capability within ArcGIS Pro called “orthomapping.” Users of Site Scan Esri Edition will also be able to process data in ArcGIS Pro through the orthomapping workflow.
Site Scan Esri Edition will allow you to do the flight planning and it will connect directly to ArcGIS Online, and can work well for the enterprise user as many organizations already have a lot of their own data available on ArcGIS Online.
“They’ll have their own field boundaries, site boundaries, vectors along power lines or other linear features, and much of that data will already be accessible on ArcGIS Online,” said Benkelman. “Site Scan Esri Edition will allow those users to connect directly to ArcGIS Online via the internet. They can drop ArcGIS Online layers directly into the flight planning process.”
Benkelman said that Site Scan Esri Edition is good for both enterprise users or those who are only using a drone once or twice a year. Through ArcGIS Online you have access to a vast amount of existing data, such as the USDA NAIP imagery, Landsat and Sentinel 2 imagery, FAA flight maps, weather data, worldwide terrain data, etc. Users can also access custom data layers from the user’s FedRAMP authorized ArcGIS Online organization account as base and reference data for their drone flight planning mission.
In contrast, “Many ArcGIS users worldwide are increasing their use of the Site Scan existing product as ArcGIS is the end destination for a lot of drone data, so even if they’re using different drone hardware or different flight planning applications, a lot of that data ends up in ArcGIS Online or behind an organization’s firewall as proprietary data.”
News this week takes a look at satellite imagery and machine learning for agricultural intelligence products, Dronecode platform-based products, traffic management using intelligent analytic rerouting, artificial intelligence and analytics, and AI and machine learning.
Google Driverless Car
The first two partnerships feature insights from the sky to earth. Herndon, Virginia-based Radiant Solutions, a Maxar Technologies company (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.), and TellusLabs, a satellite imagery and machine learning company, announced a partnership to offer agricultural intelligence products to provide insight on the world’s food supply, for the remainder of the Northern Hemisphere’s 2018 agricultural growing season and into the start of the Southern Hemisphere’s growing season. Those stakeholders such as food companies, government agencies and commodity traders who need a better understanding of the world’s current crop conditions and end of season expectations will benefit from this alliance.
Radiant Solutions’ Weather Desk™, an information platform enabled by advanced analytics applied to weather data, provides daily agricultural insights into how weather conditions are impacting agricultural markets. TellusLabs’ Kernel, enabled by machine learning applied to satellite imagery, provides insights into crop yields and agricultural forecasting. The offerings combine to deliver users an information to help them leverage the power of advanced analytics applied to persistent and pervasive weather and imagery data to derive insights into the agricultural supply chain dynamically and at a global scale.
3DR and Yuneec, two founding members of the Dronecode Software Consortium, announced a U.S.-headquartered joint venture to bring Dronecode platform-based products to market. The joint venture, which will operate as 3DR Government Services, will focus on serving the security and open platform needs of U.S. government customers and their vendors in the construction and engineering industries.
3DR Government Services will combine Yuneec’s hardware expertise and manufacturing scale with 3DR’s software. The first product from 3DR Government Services is the Yuneec 3DR H520-G, which is being unveiled at the InterDrone Conference in Las Vegas this week.
From traffic in the sky to traffic on earth, the following research study and enterprise data platform provider focus on AI and analytics and in the last case, takes into account blockchain technology.
From Leuven, Belgium, GNSS receiver manufacturer Septentrio recently announced the addition of the AsteRx-i S to its GNSS/INS product portfolio.
According to company materials, the AsteRx-i S combines Septentrio’s compact, multi-frequency multi-constellation GNSS engine with ultralight external industrial grade MEMS based IMU. Calibrated for wide temperature ranges, the AsteRx-i S delivers accurate and reliable GNSS/IMU integrated positioning to the cm-level as well as full attitude at high update rates and low latency.
Key benefits for users:
• GNSS/INS positioning with 3D attitude: heading pitch and roll
• Multi-constellation, multifrequency, all-in-view RTK receiver
• AIM+ interference monitoring and mitigation system
• High-update rate, low-latency positioning and attitude
• Small & ultralight IMU (10 grams)
• Robust calibration for wide temperature ranges
Septentrio product manager Gustavo Lopez answered some questions for GISCafe Voice about the addition of AsteRx-I S to the open interface of Septentrio’s core technology.
1. What problems are you attempting to solve with the AsteRx-i S?
One important aspect in high-end positioning technology is relying on advanced systems which combine the benefits of GNSS with the benefits of industrial grade IMUs. A GNSS/INS solution gives extra possibilities to applications working in difficult environments or where 3D reliable orientation is needed.
2. Is the technology for AsteRx-i S something you created in house or was it as a result of an acquisition?
The AsteRx-i S (same as the AsteRx-i V) uses an external quality industrial grade IMU however all the GNSS algorithmic engine is Septentrio’s proprietary bringing the stamp of quality and performance for what we are normally well known for. This means that the product also inherits all the intuitive and open interface of Septentrio thus making it easy-to-integrate in multiple applications.
CoreLogic®, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, recently announced the launch of its new publicly-accessible risk information resource center, Hazard HQ(tm). This new information hub will offer individuals, media and companies high-level analyses and up-to-date data insights on the immediate risks natural catastrophes pose to properties across the country.
The latest risk summary for Hazard HQ focuses on the ongoing California wildfires. As comprehensive risk assessment needs increase alongside growing economic losses from natural catastrophes, Hazard HQ offers a high-level risk perspective for individuals and companies who wish to understand how hazards like earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, severe convective storms, wildfires, wind and volcanic activity can impact their regions.
Senior leader of content and strategy for CoreLogic, Maiclaire Bolton Smith, spoke with GISCafe Voice about the new resource center and how it is dedicated to offering catastrophe insights about events while they are happening.
Does Hazard HQ take in citizen information?
No, it focuses on information from CoreLogic. Corelogic can provide insight and information, whether wildfire, hurricane, earthquake or flooding, and offers insights on number of properties that could be at risk, or on an area that could be impacted and the home value that could be lost. No information is pulled from citizens. It’s our opportunity to share information with others to help them protect themselves and be able to restore from financial catastrophe.
It really evolved as a way for us to share information easily.
We’ve had all these devastating wildfires this summer already. We always try to learn from the events that have happened. We’ll always be providing more information on research. For example, with regard to the wildfire that happened in Sonoma County, California last year that impacted Santa Rosa, over the past six months we’ve done a lot of research looking at the reconstruction from that wildfire and the state of the homes being rebuilt and looking at some of the insurance impacts and implications from that event happening. An event doesn’t end when an event ends, it’s a long process afterwards to really recover from it, so we will continue to share more information on an ongoing basis as we continue to research events.
How do you expect risk analysis you’ve done last year is going to impact or help in the assessment of the damage of the Mendocino fire, as an example, right now?
The biggest factor is that it brings awareness to the impact that these devastating events do have. We hear about the hundreds of thousands of acres burned, but a lot of times the fires are burning in remote areas and there are not a lot of properties at risk. It’s devastating to see the area burned, but what we want to focus on is bringing awareness to insurers and other people about where there are homes and properties at risk, and focus on the human aspects of it. What people can take away from our previous research, is
Being prepared for hazards that could happen, whether it be a flood, earthquake, hurricane, etc. We’re prone to disasters all the time in various parts of the country.
Awareness of the events that can happen, and our main goal is to work with insurance companies and help them understand what properties are valued at to be able to insure properties properly.
The general public needs to know they need insurance for a lot of these hazards. Insurance can really help them recover from events when they do happen. Hopefully they won’t be impacted but if they are, to know their risk and to be able to accelerate their recovery is a huge bonus.
Say a customer is obtaining insurance for things they expect but what about these events that happen way beyond anyone’s expectations?
Unfortunately, those rare events are the wild card that are really beyond planning scenarios. I’m actually a seismologist by training and I spend a lot of time training people to know their earthquake risk. I always say the number one thing people can do to prepare for an earthquake, is believe that it can happen, and that’s the same with all disasters. The possibility is there that it may occur. These are hard for people to conceptualize and plan for.
At CoreLogic we do risk modeling where we look at the range of events that can happen – the more common events to the very extreme events. That’s the information we provide to insurance companies, including what could the worst-case scenario even look like.
I have spoken to CoreLogic many times. In the past the company has said with the fires we’re expecting an increase in losses to homes because people have built closer to forests, and forests are not cleared as often, we run the higher risk. (more…)
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