Today, it’s almost second nature to plug an address into a street mapping app to view panoramic photos of what a location looks like before you go there. Whether it’s to explore a vacation spot, view real estate property you might be interested in, or see if a new restaurant has ample parking, it’s a great way to get the lay of the land before going to your destination.
But this technology is even more valuable for industrial applications. Prior to intelligent mobile mapping solutions, public works departments sent employees in vehicles and on foot to visually inspect conditions before dispatching crews for repairs and maintenance on municipal roads, bridges, buildings, and highways.
A safer, effective, and more cost-efficient method is to perform this inspection digitally based on high-resolution image capture. With image-based mobile mapping, local governments can keep their streets and other infrastructure safe while saving time and money.
Video-based Mobile Mapping
Horus, a systems integrator headquartered in the Netherlands, has disrupted the mobile mapping industry by using imagery data instead of conventional lidar surveying technology for mobile mapping in order to gain more detailed visual images of the assets being inspected. The company sells its mobile mapping systems to service providers who work with cities, towns, and utility companies to help them more effectively inspect, repair, and perform preventative maintenance on infrastructure.
Horus started as a mobile mapping service provider itself more than a decade ago and has since evolved into a software solutions company for the mobile mapping industry. Horus’ mission is to advance technologies and push boundaries to create visionary imaging solutions with the aim to make the world a better and safer place to live and work.
There is a revolution going on within the mobile mapping industry. The originally conservative mobile mapping market is catching up to take maximum advantage of scaling GPU power, advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), and high-end camera systems.
Today, the industry accommodates improved methods of traditional processes, especially now that AI and complex machine learning algorithms are proving to be effective in the field of mobile mapping. Horus’ hardware and software solutions allow them to deliver efficient, automated workflows to get decisive geographic information systems (GIS) data out of street-level imagery. Together with hardware manufacturers, mobile mapping system integrators, and AI, they have developed advanced intelligent video analytics solutions.
