Geospatial Distancing Series Playlist

Open the Geospatial Floodgates – The Metaverse has Arrived

The "metaverse" concept has quickly evolved from theory to reality within the last decade. Real and virtual worlds have fused together ushering in technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and LiDAR sensors built into the latest iPhone. Our world is increasingly being shaped by location-based information, and knowledge that was once relegated to experts in the geospatial domain, is now accessible to consumers.

In this recorded episode of Geospatial Distancing we sought answers to the following questions:

• What does a metaverse offer at the consumer level and how can the geospatial industry take advantage of the accessibility that it provides?
• How does the metaverse integrate with geospatial technology trends like the Internet of Things (IoT) or small satellite constellations?
• Beyond consumer-level applications, what does the metaverse offer to those in Defense and Intelligence organizations?

PANELISTS:

Stuart Blundell (Presagis)
James Lewis (L3Harris Geospatial)

Interested in hearing more from Stuart Blundell? He moderated a panel discussion at EAS 2020 (Geospatial Answers as a Service) and you can view the recording here.

GeoOps and the Changing Face of Geospatial

The industry definition of “geospatial” is transforming from a processing-focused business into a business focused on providing answers and enabling decisions. The rise of GeoOps has merged geospatial information with infrastructure to meet the evolving marketplace needs and it has propelled the shift from geospatial as a discipline, to geospatial as software and services. This episode included feature panelist Jonathan Fentzke from Techstars and Dan Gruidel from L3Harris to consider the impacts of this transformation:

• What does this mean for GIS and geospatial organizations long considered pillars of the industry?
• How is this transformation quietly (and not so quietly) already taking place within the industry?
• What is the modern face of the geospatial industry as we usher a new generation into the marketplace?

PANELISTS:

Dr. Jonathan Fentzke (Techstars)
Dan Gruidel (L3Harris Geospatial)

Geospatial Leadership in a World Gone Remote

As the world moves from COVID response to COVID recovery, what do changes look like from a leadership perspective in the geospatial industry? While the innovation of our technology has progressed over the last several decades, workplace standards have largely remained the same. Letting employees work remotely during COVID is just the beginning of a much greater shift in the way that we hire, manage and mentor employees. In this episode we speak with Richard Cooke (Esri) and Dan Gruidel (L3Harris Geospatial) about what these changes look like at an organizational level.

In this episode we talked about:

• The new generation of analysts entering the remote sensing industry primed to use game engine technology
• Innovation and evolving the geospatial tradecraft through the use of this accessible technology
• The challenges of using real-world data sources with game engine technology
• Potential use cases for game engine technology in construction, defense, urban planning, and environmental planning markets

PANELISTS:

Richard Cooke (Esri)
Dan Gruidel (L3Harris Geospatial)

Image Analysis Work in a Post-COVID World

How will image analysis get done in a post-COVID world? If remote work is the new reality, what are the challenges for an industry already drowning in big data? The previous pace of small and long-term incremental steps within the geospatial industry are no longer enough to keep up with the fast-tracked technological shifts happening right now on a global scale.

In this Geospatial Distancing episode, we discussed the ways that our industry can move forward and innovate how we consume and store data, approach image analysis tradecraft, workflows and more.

In this episode we talked about:

• The new generation of analysts entering the remote sensing industry primed to use game engine technology
• Innovation and evolving the geospatial tradecraft through the use of this accessible technology
• The challenges of using real-world data sources with game engine technology
• Potential use cases for game engine technology in construction, defense, urban planning, and environmental planning markets

PANELISTS:

Beau Legeer (Esri)
Zachary Norman (L3Harris Geospatial)
Andrew Fore (L3Harris Geospatial)

Gamers and GIS Analysts Unite!

This was such a fun episode! This week we were joined by Stuart Blundell (Presagis), Megan Gallagher (L3Harris Geospatial), and Daniel Platt (L3Harris) to talk about video game engine technology (like Unity and Unreal Engine) and how it can (and is) being fused together with remote sensing data to create realistic 3D modeling and visual simulation environments.

This was such a fun episode! This week we were joined by Stuart Blundell (Presagis), Megan Gallagher (L3Harris Geospatial), and Daniel Platt (L3Harris) to talk about video game engine technology (like Unity and Unreal Engine) and how it can (and is) being fused together with remote sensing data to create realistic 3D modeling and visual simulation environments.

In this episode we talked about:

• The new generation of analysts entering the remote sensing industry primed to use game engine technology
• Innovation and evolving the geospatial tradecraft through the use of this accessible technology
• The challenges of using real-world data sources with game engine technology
• Potential use cases for game engine technology in construction, defense, urban planning, and environmental planning markets

PANELISTS:

Stuart Blundell (Presagis)
Megan Gallagher (L3Harris Geospatial)
Daniel Platt (L3Harris)

Links to resources mentioned during this episode:

• Blender GIS on GitHub
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Digital Twin Visualization: Gottenburg, Sweden
• Unreal Engine 5 Demo
• Point Cloud Import Example

COVID Life with Drones

In this episode we delve into how drones are being used during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we discuss the possible innovations to drone technology that could emerge after this period of temporary lockdown.

Watch this episode to learn about:

• Recently announced "COVID drones" that are designed to detect COVID-19 symptoms*
• Using drones to make deliveries, enforce social distancing guidelines and everything in between
• The process of innovation during lockdown and the technologies we might see as a result

PANELISTS:

Austin Coates (L3Harris Geospatial)
Jason San Souci (Juniper Unmanned)

*The article that kicked off the discussion can be found here.

Hyperspectral Coral Reef Tracking

In this episode of Geospatial Distancing, we look at monitoring submerged coral reefs with remote sensing and its unique challenges. Then, we discuss the barriers and potential benefits of "going global" with remote sensing and transitioning from local coral reef studies to larger, global-scale applications.

Watch this episode for:

• Processed hyperspectral imagery examples looking at submerged coral reef structures
• Discussion of coral reef research as a use case for shifting to global-scale imagery and data applications

PANELISTS:

Zach Norman (L3Harris Geospatial)
Dr. James Goodman (HySpeed Computing)

New Hyperspectral Sensors for Precision Ag

In this episode, Austin Coates nerds out with Callum Scougal about the 10-band sensor recently launched by MicaSense. They discuss the potential of using this new technology, and more specifically how it might be used for precision agriculture applications.

PANELISTS:

Austin Coates (L3Harris Geospatial)
Callum Scougal (MicaSense)

Episode One

In the Geospatial Distancing premiere, we discuss how shelter-in-place orders have created a visible impact for environmental conditions around the world. We also look at change detection applications beyond environmental monitoring for industries like precision agriculture and defense and intelligence during the pandemic.

Watch this episode to learn about:

• Recently announced "COVID drones" that are designed to detect COVID-19 symptoms*
• Using drones to make deliveries, enforce social distancing guidelines and everything in between
• The process of innovation during lockdown and the technologies we might see as a result

PANELISTS:

Megan Gallagher (L3Harris Geospatial)
Amanda O'Connor (Teledyne-Brown Engineering)