A new not-for-profit called VANZI Ltd. has been set up to broker the framework for a fully integrated and secure 3D computer model for both the natural and built environment in both countries. The idea is a photo-realistic 3D model down to 20cm scale that…
Mapping Local Resources Helps San Jose Battle Food Insecurity
Food security is a growing social and economic challenge that knows no political boundaries. Even in the United States, an astonishing 18 million households…
The Geospatial Dimensions of Intelligent Infrastructure
The concept of intelligent infrastructure involves the combination of sensors, network connectivity and software to monitor and analyze the inputs for…
Interior Location and Mapping: Prompted by Innovations that Improve Position and Navigation
Imagine if the mapping of the interior of buildings would have benefitted from the explosive growth of navigation that has come from ubiquitous GPS receivers. Decades of GPS position and tracking data have greatly improved the mapping of our world, but unfortunately…
Smarter Driving Key to Sustainable Transportation Planning
In the popular mind, smarter, greener, and more sustainable transportation is generally equated with mega-projects like high speed rail, light rail, long tunnels for rail transport and, well, new subways and other versions of railway transportation. London’s…
Achieving Model-Based Design for the Smart Grid
Smart Meters and SCADA Contribute a Big Data Perspective Smart meters and intelligent electronic devices provide granular data about the state of the utility network in near real-time. The availability of such data is in no small part what is making the smart…
Sewer Heat Recovery Provides Low-Cost Recycled Energy
In every urban area, heat that humans have generated to shower, wash clothes, cook, and so on flows underground — in the sewers, making them very warm. Today, sewers represent the largest source of heat leakage in buildings. Even toilet water, which is at…
A Tidal Shift in Water Network Management
Water consumption worldwide is on the steepest of hockey stick curves—since 1950, annual consumption has tripled, and in 2006 passed 4,300 km3… that’s about 30% of the available supply of renewable water. Water consumption is expanding considerably faster…
Infrastructure Modeler: Autodesk’s Visual Model Management Tool
When Autodesk first released their conceptual design tool for infrastructure as a technical preview through Autodesk Labs, the need for the software was quickly validated when more than 5,000 customers downloaded it and immediately began working with it. The…
Transgranular Perspiration is Not Sandy Sweat: New Discoveries in Ceramic Tiles at smartgeometry 2012
Since the early 2000s, the smartgeometry conferences have been held in venues as august and varied as San Francisco, London, Barcelona, and Copenhagen. At first glance, Troy, New York—this year's location—seems a little out of place in that lineup, but…
