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O P I N I O N

Innovation in the AEC If it flies, floats, or cruises the corridors of your local warehouse, you can get it in an autonomous variety – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I ’m a pretty tech savvy guy but I’ll admit, I was way out of my league at the SPAR 3D Expo in Houston. In their own words, SPAR 3D has been the premier international event for the application of 3-D technology in our industry for close to two decades. Here are a few pieces of functional tech that caught my eye.

Jay Thornton BRAND BUILDING

capture and detail is unbelievable. AEROmetrex, an Aussie company involved in cutting edge geo- spatial imaging, using the latest in aerial and together multiple simple photographs to create a 3-D model of whatever you’re working on in the field. Cloud processing allows all images to be viewed from a web browser.” “Bentley Systems, Inc. was also showing off their new app, ContextCapture, that stitches

3-D CAPTURE. Initially I assumed this meant imag- ing, but I was oversimplifying. These “cameras” are capturing everything; images, ranges, GPS location, air pressure, elevation, and path of move- ment, stitching it all together in the cloud for real time review. These new hardware pieces come in any number of forms, from desktop cameras the size of a Bluetooth speaker to autonomous skid steer tractors, submarines, and various flying machines. There are vehicle mount systems that make Google Street View look like a Gameboy and even backpack models for you adventurous types where users can collect 3-D data down a trail from a mountain bike. MODELING AND RENDERING SOFTWARE. The level of data

See JAY THORNTON, page 12

THE ZWEIG LETTER June 12, 2017, ISSUE 1204

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