The following are keynote addresses from the 2013 event. Check back soon for 2014 keynotes as the program is developed.
Michael Jones, Chief Technology Advocate, Google
A World of Measurement
Michael's presentation will look at our future as a recorded society, when everything is measured and big data is applied to the world around us. We’re moving into a world of autonomous vehicles and new ways of information-gathering and dissemination such as crowdsourcing and mapping by individuals. Michael is at the forefront of these changes and will provide a fascinating and important glimpse into what's ahead not only for our industries but for us as a society.
Read biography here.
Greg Bentley, CEO, Bentley Systems
Information Mobility for 3D Data: From Hand-off and Hand-over to Hands-on!
With the consumer-driven mainstreaming of connected devices such as scanners, tablets and wireless sensors, information mobility is breaking down the institutional barriers between design, construction and operations—at the same time, this development is breaking down the boundaries between the physical and virtual models. When this ubiquitous consumer technology is leveraged for industrial applications, a new and transformative convergence is possible, with beneficial outcomes to improve ROI and to help deliver high-performing, intelligent infrastructure.
These “hands-on” innovations will span physical and virtual infrastructure assets, creating dynamic connections through breakthroughs like intelligent positioning and hypermodeling, in which specific locations in the physical asset are calibrated with their corresponding positions in the virtual asset and can offer hyperlinks to all relevant data for that location and instance. 3D capture of physical environments gain true mobility—and usability— through advances like point-cloud streaming and point-cloud differencing, while hypermodeling of point clouds further bridge the physical/virtual divide.
As construction sites and operating assets get provisioned with 3D positioning “dial tones” of engineering precision, virtual design and virtual operational models can be aligned with the as-built and as-operated assets, opening the doors for intelligent, interactive inspections, reliability-centered maintenance, and asset health modeling. This presentation will highlight the recent advances made possible from the convergence of physical and virtual infrastructure, and showcase the resulting benefits in performance, safety and ROI.
Read biography here.
Prof. (em) Heinz Ruther, Principal Investigator, Zamani Project
The Spatial Documentation of UNESCO World Heritage Site Petra
The presentation describes the spatial documentation of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Petra in Jordan. The project is unusual because of its physical extent and the complexity of the documented features. The Zamani research team from the University of Cape Town acquired a total of 1750 scans covering terrain as well as historical tombs, temples and other structures over an area of 3.3 km by 100 m. This resulted in a point cloud of more than 12 billion points. The presentation discusses concepts and challenges associated with technical and other aspects of the project. The creation of a 3Dmodel of Petra has multiple objectives. It firstly serves as the basis of a stability study of the rock formations on either side of the Siq, the narrow access canyon to the site. The 3D models will also serve as permanent record form the future and for conservation and reconstruction purposes if required. A GIS has been created for site management purposes and virtual reality tour, which is under construction, will provide a virtual access to the site for virtual tourism.
The presentation further critically reports on the Zamani group principal activity of the creation of a spatial database of African Cultural heritage Sites and Landscapes and shows examples of the more than 40 sites which have been documented. The database is designed as holistic approach to heritage documentation and this aspect is highlighted and discussed.
Read biography here.