The concept of GeoDesign involves a more interactive interface to geospatial layers with the means for sketching and design upon those layers in a collaborative way while contributing and interacting with an evolving intelligent model. The concept itself isn’t new, but various technology pieces have been missing, and the enabling software is now being worked on.

A significant amount of spatial and geodata related work is related to urban activity. This involves all kinds of geodata including cadastral, topographic, infrastructure, demographic, transport and many other types of information. At the same time we can find similar levels of activity related to rural environments. While modelling for each may take on different characteristics, there are connection points between urban and rural areas. Should Rural and Urban Spatial Models Link Together?

Intelligent infrastructure combines sensors, network connectivity and software to monitor and analyze complex systems to uncover inefficiency and inform optimal operations. The sensor component collects operational detail over time as well as providing real-time inputs on current conditions. The network connectivity ensures the flow of information between systems, other sensors, and practitioners. The software component provides oversight and analysis, integrating insight from various systems and personnel. Intelligence is constantly improving from such a system through incremental improvements that are informed through constant monitoring and analysis.

New mobile prod­ucts are arriv­ing in the mar­ket­place daily. Along with them come new appli­ca­tion pro­gram­ming inter­faces (APIs). Each of these is used to access soft­ware pro­grams of dif­fer­ent types. Geospa­tial and design inter­ested par­ties have never had a greater oppor­tu­nity to access pow­er­ful spa­tial data so read­ily — and sim­ply. The growth in APIs is expand­ing rapidly. Dif­fer­ent mobile phones, more spa­tially related Apps — how does we wade through it all?

The concept of Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) is really quite simple as it involves the capability to tune the wavelength, pulse width and frequency of laser light, bounce that light off objects, and capture returning light over time to measure X,Y, and Z dimensions as well as the returning light’s intensity. The technology has proven to be quite useful for capturing 3D terrain and features, and is being used extensively to map infrastructure and natural resources.

The devel­op­ment and release of 3D GIS is a major step for­ward into the future. It will undoubt­edly cause a stir, sev­eral peo­ple to scratch their heads and unleash a wave of new think­ing that we have not expe­ri­enced in the geo­com­mu­nity for quite some time. It will cross dis­ci­plines, open doors and stir the pot of con­tented indi­vid­u­als who thought we had gone as far as we could go. Visu­al­iza­tion is poised to sky rocket in terms of activ­ity due to new ways for inter­pret­ing prob­lems, under­stand­ing their nature and rep­re­sent­ing their inter­ac­tions. Is 3D GIS about to rev­o­lu­tion­ize visualization?

]]> Matt Ball Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:00:00 +0000 http://www.vector1media.com/dialogue/perspectives/11325-what-can-be-learned-from-the-volunteer-mapping-efforts-for-haiti http://www.vector1media.com/dialogue/perspectives/11325-what-can-be-learned-from-the-volunteer-mapping-efforts-for-haiti

The unfolding events in Haiti have underscored the fact that accessibility to map making tools and open spatial data can make anyone a mapmaker. Mapping is an activity that provides a tangible means for concerned citizens to reach out and help make sense of a very complicated and evolving situation where the more that is known, the more that can be done, and the quicker the mapping response, the quicker aid will reach the effected population.

Time changes and tech­nol­ogy does as well.  Over time the rea­sons we pur­chased a prod­uct also change. We learn, we grow and we devel­op­ment new thoughts about spa­tial data, maps and how new designs and appli­ca­tions can be cre­ated. Growth leads to new ideas and per­cep­tions, sud­denly what was accept­able appears blurs and becomes re-established at another level and in a dif­fer­ent form. New expec­ta­tions for our geo­graphic infor­ma­tion sys­tems (GIS) arise and we expect our CAD sys­tems to deliver some­thing more.

The demand for new housing will not go away anytime soon. However, new development plans are under increasing scrutiny regarding the value that they bring to communities, and the impacts that they’ll have on quality of life. This growing sentiment of more reasoned development plays neatly into the hands of evolving design and planning approaches as well as supporting geospatial technologies.