CIOReviewopinionin my3D GIS--Making IT Work Harder than EverBy Steve Bein, VP-GIS, Michael Baker InternationalA few years back, I took a trip from my office in Irvine, CA to the Desert Research Institute in Reno NV to explore opportunities for using Virtual Reality and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map in realtime the progression of wildfires. Using an indoor twelve foot "cube" outfitted with 3D projectors and wearing 3D glasses I could visualize a computerized model of the actual terrain. The system applied real-world weather conditions to model a virtual fire's progress and reaction to external factors such as weather and firefighting. The room was abuzz with banks of servers and large equipment to accomplish both the incredible computer processing and to trick the user's senses into believing they were standing on a ridge overlooking sage brush and trees as the fire took off. That was in 2009 and much has changed in the world of 3D and GIS. Today we are not simply trying to model a hillside or valley and produce photo-realistic vegetation to immerse the user. Today we are creating entire cities in 3D, complete with real photos of facades and rooftops. We are using Augmented Reality (AR) goggles to immerse the user and allow them to explore the virtual 3D environment while providing real-time analysis of "BIG" datasets to enhance decision making.Spurred on by the video gaming industry with such products as SimmCity, the virtual environments being developed for today's smart cities will lead to a revolution of technological advances in IT from the ground up. SimmCity, which began with very simple graphics in 1989 became the most popular video game through 2012 and is now using full 3D multi-player graphics feeding the 3D creations over the Internet. While it may seem that such games are mere toys to play with, they actually paved the way for the development of many of the tools and IT innovations we use today.Kevin Devito, CEO of CyberCity 3D, Inc. writes, "All cities desire the opportunity to leverage their GIS data assets in a 3D environment."Historically 3D GIS was the most IT resource intensive activity in the engineering and design field. Developing 3D terrain models to perform simple volume calculations would bog down even the hardiest of mainframe computer systems. In today's world, we see wide spread use of technologies like LiDAR (laser scanning) both from the air and ground based mobile platforms. Here at Baker we depend on our IT infrastructure to support development of massive 3D point clouds with survey grade measurements taken of every centimeter of a city as our Mobile LiDAR truck drives down each street (think Google Streetview at an engineering level). The transport, processing, analysis, and display of this data is leading to ever expanding requirements on the IT infrastructure.Even more data to support and enhance these terrestrial models comes from aerial and satellite imagery. In the next several weeks, the FAA promises to release to the White House its proposed guidelines for the use of small drones over the U.S., and satellite companies are racing to provide almost real time Steve BeinRaising public awareness through the use of 3D GIS is gaining traction, allowing engineers and scientists to better communicate risks | | April 20158CIOReview
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