In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

Via the GEB, I learned that last week, Trimble released SketchUp 2013. Trimble acquired SketchUp from Google over a year ago.

From the announcement: "For 2013, we built a repository of extensions—an Extension Warehouse, in our parlance—that provides a one-stop shop for anyone looking to customize their copy of SketchUp. This one new feature is actually dozens (eventually hundreds) of new features, all ready and waiting for you to discover. [...]  We decided that the free version of SketchUp needed a name and a brand of its own. Now the word “SketchUp” refers to a product family of which there are two members: SketchUp Pro and SketchUp Make. The latter is still free, international, and aimed squarely at every treehouse builder, 3D printing wizard, and pinewood derby all-star in the universe."

Via APB I learned about the public preview of Microsoft's project codename “GeoFlow” for Excel, which delivers 3D data visualization and storytelling. Considering the dominance of Microsoft Excel in multiple sectors, it may become a popular mapping tool.

From their Excel blog announcement: "GeoFlow lets you plot geographic and temporal data visually, analyze that data in 3D, and create interactive "tours" to share with others. [...] With GeoFlow, you can:

1. Map Data: Plot more than one million rows of data from an Excel workbook, including the Excel Data Model or PowerPivot, in 3D on Bing maps. Choose from columns, heat maps, and bubble visualizations.
2. Discover Insights: Discover new insights by seeing your data in geographic space and seeing time-stamped data change over time. Annotate or compare data in a few clicks.
3. Share Stories: Capture "scenes" and build cinematic, guided "tours" that can be shared broadly, engaging audiences like never before."

Related, Esri Maps for [Microsoft] Office 2.0 was released earlier this month.

Not related to their recent donation (really!), Cube Cities provides an excellent comparison of Google and Apple's 3D building products.

From the entry: "Note how the entire urban fabric is rendered in the computer generated maps, whereas Google's legacy building layer has missing buildings and contains stylistically different models due to it's human-crafted origin. [...] However, Apple currently does not provide a method of loading data into their mapping application, with the exception of the built-in third party data feeds from Tom Tom and Yelp."

Another geospatial-related discussion over Slashdot during the weekend, the Best 3-D Design Software?

The summary: "I'm just getting into playing around with various maker-related tools, and I've run into a bit of a roadblock. I have access to a 3-D printer, a CNC mill, and a bunch of other fun tools, but I'm not able to make my own designs to use on them. I'd like to learn some 3-D design, but there are a ton of different software options, and I'm not sure which is the best. I've been hesitant to jump right into one, because I don't know how well it'll suit my needs compared to the others, and many of the options have a pretty steep price tag. I also don't want to spend a bunch of time learning one only to find out it's not very good for actually making things. I've played around briefly with Solidworks, Alibre, and AutoCAD, and also some free options like Blender and Sketchup. But these are complicated piece of software, and knowing nothing, it's hard for me to evaluate the differences. Makers of Slashdot, what do you recommend? Also, if you know of good online resources for learning 3-D design in general, or on any of this software in particular, I'd love to see it."

No links in the summary, see the discussion for suggestions and recommendations.

Yesterday Google announced that they are discontinuing Google Building Maker as of next June. We mentioned Google Building Maker several times in the past, and while the 3D buildings built using this tool could not be as good as with professional grade data and tools, it was an easy way for anyone to quickly create 3D buildings. This isn't surprising considering that Trimble acquired SketchUp from Google a year ago and that Google launched last June their new 3D models for Google Earth, which doesn't use user-created rectangles anymore ;-)

Also lost to Google users in the same Spring cleaning effort is Google Reader, while this tool isn't geospatial-related, I use it daily to aggregate the geonews for Slashgeo. Hopefully there are alternatives. Google are nice enough to tell us in advance and provide a way to export our data, but it does demonstrate what can happen when you rely on tools you don't control. The same warning applies to proprietary geospatial tools, especially the cloud-based ones (which can 'disappear' anytime), that we rely on to do our work.

Not the first time we hear about this, but it's getting easier and easier, Slashdot discusses a story name Point and Shoot 3D Modeling (Video).

Their summary: "Slashdot editor Tim Lord was wandering around SXSW and ran into a small display for Lynx Laboratories, a startup that makes this claim about its Lynx A camera: "If you can use a point-and-shoot Nikon, you'll find the Lynx even easier to use. Instead of outputing 2D images, it produces 3D models of whatever you point it at. It's faster and cheaper than existing solutions today." There's a two-minute demo at the end of the video in which Lynx Founder and CEO Chris Slaughter shows how it works, and (at least in his hands) it looks extremely easy. The company is a University of Texas spinoff that "has received prestigious awards including the 1st Place Idea2Product (I2P) Texas, 1st Place I2P Global, Top 10 Dell Innovators and National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research Funding." Naturally, they're hoping to raise money through Kickstarter as well. They're looking for $50,000 and as of 13 March 2013 it looks like they've raised $88,548 of it. There are obviously other ways to make 3-D images and models. But Lynx seems to have made a novel device, and the images it makes can be picked up directly by a number of 3D printer software packages. The Lynx-A also does motion capture, which could really speed up rotoscoping and other techniques that make video games and other animations look more lifelike than pure animation. That's totally different from static 3D modeling but might be more interesting to more people, at least in a commercial sense."

I have a lot of geonews to catchup. You'll get everything that's pertinent (at least from my point of view ;-), but just a bit later than usual. Thanks for your patience!

Here's the recent Google-related geonews. Nothing major, but several interesting items.

From official sources:

• The first update to the Google Maps SDK for iOS
• Google informs us that Ski Resorts are now on Google Maps

From other sources:

• The GEB informs us that Google released 3D imagery in Berne (Switzerland), Anaheim (California) and other cities around the world
• Ogle Earth has an entry named Reconstructing the Chelyabinsk meteor’s path, with Google Earth, YouTube and high-school math
• Related, the GEB has an entry named Mapping meteor impacts
• Still the same source a book named "Google Earth and Virtual Visualizations in Geoscience Education and Research"
• The GEB shares a kmz to watch U.S. watersheds in Google Earth
• The GEB reminds us that we can animate GPS tracks in Google Earth
• You're an Olympics fan? Previewing the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi
• If you prefer Grand Prix racing, Ride along GP tracks from all over the world
• There has been games for Google Earth for a while, but now we're talking about multiplayer games: Two player driving shooter game in Google Earth

I'm abroad this week, expect return to normal geonews coverage next week, thank you for your patience.

Slashdot discusses a story named Why Hasn't 3D Taken Off For the Web?

Their summary: "With HTML5 we're closer to the point where a browser can do almost everything that a native app can do. The final frontier is 3D, but WebGL isn't even part of the HTML5 standard, Microsoft refuses to support it, Apple want to push their native apps and it's not supported in the Android mobile browser. Flash used to be an option but Adobe have dropped mobile support. To reach most people you'd have to learn Javascript, WebGL and Three.js/Scene.js for Chrome/Firefox, then you'd have to learn actionscript + flash for the microsofties, then learn objective c for the apple fanboyz, then learn Java to write a native app for Android. When will 3D finally become available for all? Do you think it's inevitable or will it never see the light of day?"

We mentioned WebGL often lately, with many geospatial web tools betting on it.

3D GeoInfo 2013- 8th 3D GeoInfo Conference & ISPRS WG II/2 Workshop

“Advances in Multi-scale and multi-dimensional modeling and data representation”

27-29 November 2013

http://www.3dgeoinfo.com

CALL FOR PAPERS

Topics

Amongst others, the following subjects will be addressed by the conference

3D geo information requirements

3D spatial data infrastructures and 3D data integration

3D data acquisition (LiDAR, photogrammetry) and processing

3D GIS and time / 4D models

3D in spatial databases

3D standards for geospatial technologies

3D open source development

3D city models and building modelling

3D geometry and topology

3D visualisation, augmented and virtual reality

3D spatial analysis and simulation

3D indoor and outdoor navigation

3D applications (e.g., cadastre, utilities, city and urban planning, geology, disaster and risk management, environmental simulation, etc)

Publications

Researchers are invited to submit full papers (up to 6000 words) or extended abstracts (1000-1500 words) describing original and unpublished fundamental scientific research and application.All manuscripts will be subject to peer review process.

Full Papers:

Researchers are invited to submit full papers (up to 6000 words), selected set of full papers will be published within the  Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography (LNG&C) series by Springer. All accepted  abstracts will be published in the ISPRS Annals/Archives with ISBN/ISSN reference.The authors will be given regular slots for oral presentation.  A set of papers will be selected for Special Issue of  International Journal of 3D Information Modeling (IJ3DIM).

Extended Abstracts:

Researchers are invited to submit extended abstracts (1000-1500 words) describing original and unpublished fundamental scientific research and application. All manuscripts will be subject to peer review process.All accepted extened abstracts will be published in the ISPRS Annals/Archives with ISBN/ISSN reference.The authors will be given short slots for presentation.

ISPRS Workshop:

Researchers are invited to submit full papers (up to 6000 words).All accepted  abstracts will be published in the ISPRS Annals/Archives with ISBN/ISSN reference.  The authors will be given regular slots for oral presentation. Workshop papers will be included in  WG II/2 Workshop Issue of  International Journal of 3D Information Modeling (IJ3DIM).

Guidelines for all forms of submissions are according to templates are provided on the submission page. Please submit all abstracts and papers through the website according to the following deadlines:

Full Paper Submission (Regular Presentation) Route :

Abstract submission : 15 March 2013

Notification of abstract acceptance :20 March 2013

Full paper (6000 words) submission: 1 May 2013

Notification of acceptance  :15 June 2013

Camera ready submission: 1 July 2013

Extended Abstract (Short Presentation) Route:

Extended abstract (1000-1500 words) submission: 1 May 2013

Notification of acceptance  :15 June 2013

Camera ready submission: 1 July 2013

ISPRS Workshop Submission Route:

Abstract submission : 15 March 2013

Notification of abstract acceptance :20 March 2013

Full paper (6000 words) submission: 1 May 2013

Notification of acceptance  :15 June 2013

Camera ready submission: 1 July 2013

http://www.3dgeoinfo.com

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode.

On the open source front:

• 3D and open source with WebGL mixed with games gives you Voxel.js: Minecraft-like Browser-Based Games, But Open Source, which can certainly be reused for other geospatial projects
• Never mentioned here before, an QGIS for Android in development, and on a similar topic, QGIS Globe works again
• OpenStreetMap's new editor named iD gets a new home and updates, ideditor.com
• After last year's success, NASA launches second International Space Apps Challenge, open data and open source
• MapBox-related news:
  • Of course, MapBox Maps Now Embed On Twitter
  • You can now embed MapBox interactive maps in Apple iBooks Author software
  • An entry on Using Google Fusion Tables to Add Real-Time Feeds to MapBox Maps

On the Esri front:

• The ArcGIS Online World Topographic Map first updates for 2013

On the Google front:

• A nice Side-by-Side Router, allowing you to see directions for driving, transit, bicycling and walking on a same map
• You can learn a bit more, Details of Google's Project Glass Revealed In FCC Report

In the miscellaneous category:

• Microsoft shares a Bing Maps for Windows Store Apps Training Kit
• And if developing for iOS, Apple Reaches Out to LBS Developers with iOS 6.1 POI Search API
• Pretty interesting on the future of 3D photography, Light Field Photography Is the New Path To 3-D
• Not the first time we hear about similar protections, In Brazil, Trees To Call For Help If Illegally Felled
• Satellites (including footprints) and iPad / iPhone: New iOS app to view the SES Astra satellite info
• I did not know that February 2nd is World Wetlands Day
• Interesting on the Future U.S. Workforce for Geospatial Intelligence, the world needs need more geospatial experts
• Which is also true considering 95% of of Public Safety Agencies Under-utilize Computer Mapping and GIS
• A topic we discussed recently, Analytics for people, the next big thing in retail
• If you have an interest in check-ins, 500 Million Foursquare Check-ins Visualized

In the maps category:

• A different kind of map, Swiss Historical Maps Allow Journey Through Time In Your Browser
• Map of the Geography of Abortion Access in the US
• On the geography of languages, here's entries named World Maps of Language Families, World Maps of Language Families, Continued, and Remaining Language Families and Geographical Language Groups
• Let's close this batch mode edition by another funny xkcd on mapping