This presentation was given at the Winter Meeting of the Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS) in La Jolla, California on Wednesday, February 12, 2014.

1. 3D Point Cloud
Visualization
Streaming LiDAR:
The Intersection of
Geospatial & Gaming
February 12, 2014
Engineering | Architecture | Design-Build | Surveying | GeoSpatial Solutions

2. Presenter Bio – Bill Emison
•
Senior Account Manager (Commercial Accounts) for the
Geospatial Solutions (GSS) team
• Also provide support as Corporate Communications
Specialist for Sustainable Infrastructure team; MARS®
Product Manager
• Geospatial professional since 1993 with experience in
solutions consulting; software & service sales; technical
marketing and communications
• Employed by Merrick‟s GSS team since January 2006.
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3. The New 3D Reality:
Leveraging Video Gaming Technology to
Address Geospatial Data Access Issues
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4. New 3D Data EXPECTATIONS!

INSTANT access / navigation for all geospatial data assets (ex. LiDAR,
optically-derived 3D points), no matter the size of the model!


Secret: Users don’t care how hard it is  get it done!
DATA COMPRESSION – Geospatial data (points + pixels) need to be
stored / served in a compressed format to reduce data footprint

Users require NO decompression lag!

DATA DISTRIBUTION – Users assume that they will be able to see every
point / pixel in the delivered dataset; most users expect a spatial data
STREAM over a network or the Internet (just like the new Xbox One!)

NO HARDWARE DEPENDENCY – Organizations & users do NOT like to
be reliant on expensive, high-end hardware
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5. Oh, by the way, we also need….

SECURITY - Users DEMAND a data access system that protects
sensitive data while providing unlimited access to ALL geospatial data
investments (ex. LiDAR)

ENTERTAINMENT - Entrenched user expectation (millenials!) expect
that all 3D geospatial data behave like a video game interface  full
freedom of movement and navigation

DATA INTEGRATION – Users assume that all geospatial features are
integrated with other data sources (ex. asset information), which allows
for more comprehensive query results
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6. 3D / Geospatial Market Drivers
 Sensor
hardware is improving faster than our ability to
manage, process, analyze & exploit remotely sensed data!
 Software
improvements and technical innovation leveraging
photogrammetric techniques and automated terrain
extraction
 Variety
of new sensor platforms is driving technical
innovation for efficient data visualization capabilities that
can support a wide variety of commercial applications
 Bottom
Line: The geospatial community needs to leverage
innovative gaming technologies to support data visualization
and drive new applications
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7. Unlimited Detail (UD) Technology
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8. “Next-Gen” 3D Visualization Features
Complete 3D Data Freedom

Fully immersive data rendering and navigation at video game speed  between 30 – 35
frames per second; no patience for „thinned‟ data renderings
Real-time 3D Data Access

Users demand instant access to full resolution data from a web browser or a thin client;
data access via local drive, network drive or Internet utilizing two revolutionary
techniques:

Advanced 3D, octree-based spatial index

Intelligent search algorithm to rapidly search and display just the data needed  at most, one
point per screen pixel for every display device
3D Data Management

New, innovative rendering techniques allow users to manipulate the actual 3D data, not
just the derivative products (ex. DEMs, topo, etc.)

No need to grid (interpolate) LiDAR data, which loses critical 3D information (ex.
intensity values, classification, etc.)

No need to keep features separated by data types (ex. point cloud, vector, raster, etc.)
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9. Streaming LiDAR over the Internet
 3D
models can be streamed over the Internet, providing
unlimited “multi-player” worldwide data access from a
single location!

Thick client

Web browser (plug-in not necessary)
 No
need for multiple local storage points of 3D models if
the an Internet connection is available
 Centralized
data access dramatically decreases data
storage requirements, hardware costs, and IT complexities
 Version
Control - if changes to the data are made, updates
are applied directly to the source data
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10. RAM Usage – LiDAR Streaming
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11. Urban Example
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12. Streaming LiDAR – Thin Client
Merrick & Company: Missouri DoT

https://s3.amazonaws.com/MerrickSample/
Grid_88_32_0.uds
Kimoto: Corridor Data

https://AKIAIWZP43L4HNRQC6PA:PdgOd0
o+KKL5wgl4FSb2dBosxnq5ErtGUAx6VFH
F@usdist.euclideon.com.s3.amazonaws.co
m/Kimoto_8cm.uds
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13. Serving More Than Just LiDAR!!
3D Data

RGB fused LiDAR

3D Ortho – interpolated LiDAR at the resolution of imagery

Colorized 3D point clouds derived from stereo pairs using dense
matching techniques (i.e. semi-global matching or multi-ray
photogrammetry)

3D models from multi-angled oblique imagery

More groundbreaking possibilities in the works
3D Models

3D solid CAD models can be utilized for visualization with point cloud
data, vector information and imagery to provide a single rendering
interface
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14. 3D Image – not an image drape or TIN render
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15. Semi-Global Matching
Images courtesy of Intergraph
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16. Oblique Image SGM
Images courtesy of Intergraph
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17. Multi-Ray Photogrammetry
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Images courtesy of Microsoft's UltraMap 3.0
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18. Oblique Image Texturing Example
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19. Summary
 “BIG
(geospatial) DATA” easily accessible and
even portable!
 Real-time
3D data rendering at full resolution /
detail is a default project requirement
 Centralized
spatial data repositories needed to
serve large, multi-player enterprises where data
access is paramount (ex. utilities NERC data)
 Rip
off the rearview mirror! Look forward for
technologies that can solve business challenges!!
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20. Contact Information
Merrick & Company  www.merrick.com
Geoverse Info  www.Merrick.com/Geoverse
 Bill
Emison, Senior Account Manager

E-mail:
bill.emison@merrick.com

Tel:
(303) 353-3634

Twitter:
@Merrick_Geo or @Merrick_MARS
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