A partnership has been formed between online data mapping company MapData Services (MDS) and 3D imagery company earthmine Australia.
The alliance will see MDS – which has devbeloped online maps and mobile apps for companies such as Woolworths, Caltex and NAB – introduce a new 3D street level imagery capability to their portfolio.
“Managing information from a geographic, map-based perspective has become common place in today’s business environment – but user expectations have grown beyond flat, 2D imagery,” said MDS General Manager Cassandra Barker.
“Through MDS’ partnership with earthmine Australia, we can create a compelling ‘real-life’ digital experience that transports the user into a dynamic virtual world.
“For a staff member in a government department, this could mean performing audits on council assets – such trees or roads – from their computer, without having to make a trip into the field.
“For retailers – it could mean providing customers with an ‘augmented reality’ mobile app that creates a highly personalised, cutting-edge shopping experience.
“Real estate agents could use the technology to virtually show prospective buyers around properties and neighbourhoods – without actually leaving the office.
“The implications of this partnership are enormous – and we are eager to start delivering this capability to Australian businesses.”
earthmine Australia CEO Peter Markham said the partnership would enable MDS to deliver highly accurate, panoramic street level 3D imagery of suburbs, cities and states Australia-wide.
“Businesses will be able to collect their own data – or tap into our library of pre-existing 3D street level imagery to create a visual experience unlike any other,” Mr Markham said.
“Through our partnership with MDS, we are looking forward to delivering an exciting new approach for managing and visualising assets that will benefit many Australian organisations.”
The end-to-end earthmine solution has plug ins for seamless integration with major Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, including AutoCAD and Esri ArcGIS.
“GIS professionals will now be able to view their spatial data and analysis in the context of the real world,” said Ms Barker.
“Users can easily navigate their geodatabase in 3D, and layer spatial information on top of vivid real-world imagery to achieve a new and incredibly detailed perspective of a situation.”
Ms Barker said the onset of location-aware 3D technology was coming at the right time for progressive Australian businesses – many of which are already using location-based technology.
“Thousands of organisations across the country already use mapping in their day to day business – whether it’s to provide store locations to customers, or manage their assets or analyse their data,” said Ms Barker.
“Australian businesses are ready to take it to the next level – and the team at MDS is keen to start adding that third dimension to traditional digital applications.”
