Tag Archives: vr
New Digital World Needs Data
Next-generation surveyors require specialized education and training to fill the role of geospatial data specialists. Many emerging geospatial applications, such as digital twins, 3D modeling, monitoring, virtual reality, and autonomous vehicles, are based on big digital datasets. Building a 3D digital world starts with accurate data that ties to a point on the ground, so...
Positively Surveying: A 2020 Vision for Geospatial Professions
I’m imagining a world. It’s not a dream. It’s coming, and soon. One in which we bring data from the field and step into a virtual reality (VR) environment made by our data points that we uploaded to the cloud. Where we’re crafting and sharing our surveys in 3D and real-time, in collaboration with surveyors...
The Problem with GIS and Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality
Over the last few years, altered realities technology has exploded, and now, with the introduction of Apple’s ARKit and Android’s ARCore, AR, MR, and VR are well within the reach of the non-developer. I can confirm this as I’ve created a few AR apps and MR apps myself over the last few months, with no experience...
Mainstreaming Augmented Reality: No Headset Required, Part 1
Augmented reality technology is rapidly evolving into the mainstream; now you can employ and enjoy AR on your smartphone. Let’s start with Apple’s ARKit, a software developers’ kit (SDK) for augmented reality. Apps developed on this platform will work with all iPhones and iPads that use the A9 or A10 processor and are running iOS...
Pokémon Go Leads the AR Revolution
Six months ago when I claimed that augmented reality was the future of GIS and geospatial services, it was met with a few sniggers. This week has seen the arrival of Pokémon Go, one of the most popular games to hit the mobile phone market, and yes, it is augmented reality and yes, it is...
Heads-up Hard Hats
A new smart helmet brings VR to the workplace. Virtual Reality (VR) and “wearables” are all the rage now, but we expect the hype to subside at some point, and then we’ll start seeing products suitable for real-world applications. Sure, there is Glass and Oculus, but how can such devices move beyond gaming, marketing, (and...
