Blog | 03 March 2023
Serge Lupas (CEO Cyclomedia): The Future of Reality is Digital and Geospatial
The world is rapidly going
digital – and Cyclomedia’s
mission is to digitize
the outside world, on a
large scale, in 3D and with high
accuracy, in order to help our
customers gain useful insights. We
are the global category leader in
street-level imagery, cover major
parts of Europe and the US and
are driven by a strong belief that
geospatial data is a key enabler
for sustainability, efficiency and
effectiveness across public and
private sectors.
Trends to watch out for
We see a drive towards 3D visualization
of digitized geospatial
information enhanced by AI
analytics. We are witnessing the
first high-resolution meshes of
entire cities, the emergence of the
industrial metaverse, as well as
the exponential multiplication of
sensor data.
Access to true-to-life 3D
geospatial data is crucial for
modelling accurate digital twins of
industrial networks or processes
and is one of the trends that
will emerge over the next few
years.
There will be an increase
in availability of geospatial data
across ecosystems and platforms,
from individual assets to fullyfledged
digital twins encompassing
a multitude of assets in an
object-oriented environment.
Across all industries the
exponential multiplication of
sensor data (e.g., IOT) makes
available a trove of useful information
– and for optimum use
of this information, it’s crucial to
know where the info is coming
from and locate the source on a
map.
Fusing these billions of data
points onto a “geospatial canvas”
is another emerging trend that
will drive the need for true-toreality
3D geospatial data. In
addition to this, algorithms driven
by AI and ML will increasingly
help make sense of the geospatial
data available, extracting ever
richer meaning out of a multitude
of inputs.
Geospatial impact on
sectors
Geospatial technology and data
already play a very significant role
for public and private organizations
who manage large quantities
of assets outdoors. Municipalities,
road/highway departments,
utilities and telcos all need to
inventory those assets to understand
their condition, manage
them, expand the network, etc.
This is where we come in; assets
that need to be inventoried must
be mapped, located, analysed and
assessed.
Our imagery and LiDAR
point clouds enable this using AI
algorithms to detect and analyse
these assets. Based on our imagery
and value-added asset information
our customers derive a number
of benefits: generating revenue
(e.g., claiming rent for a surface
of sidewalk used by a restaurant
as a terrace); saving costs (e.g.,
improving maintenance planning
and optimize the use of budgets
and resources); mitigating risks
and liabilities (e.g., improving
traffic security); and improving
their carbon footprint (e.g.,
reducing emissions by cutting
down on driving to inspect assets).
In truth, all sectors benefit
from the abundance of geospatial
information, directly or indirectly:
a better understanding through
geospatial data of our planet or
our immediate environment
helps us all, businesses as well as
consumers, on a daily basis.
Outlook
We see an accelerating demand
for geospatial and digital solutions
that companies like Cyclomedia
provide, driven by global
challenges, for example, climate
change and economic slowdown.
Geospatial allows customers to
significantly reduce the cost of
their workflows. Assessing situations
remotely instead of driving
there reduces carbon emissions.
We are constantly working to
make high-quality geospatial
data easily available. Our latest
solution, Street Hive, allows users
to capture images and LiDAR
data themselves and generate
data insights via Cyclomedia’s
platform. The collected data and
AI-powered insights are ready for
use within 24 hours and help overcome
budget overruns, project
delays, or unsafe environments.
The future of reality is indeed
digital and geospatial – in the
sense that the layers of geolocated
information extracted from
a digitized reality enhance our
perception and understanding of
the world around us — and the
true-to-life 3D visualization of
reality allows us to perceive it in
new and valuable ways.