Monday, August 11. 2008

Autodesk Geospatial Acquires 3D Geo GmbH

The German company provides "software and services for geo-visualization: solutions for effectively creating, analyzing, managing, and distributing large-scale geo information" and is a "maker of intelligent 3D urban models software." Further, "The products of 3D Geo are made in accordance with international standards such as CityGML." The company is based in Potsdam, Germany and is privately held.

The interesting bit about the company found in the "about" part of the press release: 3D Geo GmbH, is a spin-off company of the Hasso Platter Institute. Hasso Platter? He co-founded SAP and I believe I saw him on stage at ESRI UC back when ESRI was implementing, then partnering with SAP. He funds the institute which focuses on IT; there is no tuition!

The company has two sites: 3D Geo and LandXplorer (a free CityGML viewer for models created with for fee LandXplorer Studio, there's a full suite including a server, developer platform, a product to put data in to Google Earth and another to support geotainment). I am surprised not to find 3D Geo in the list of OGC member companies.

This is a clear step that Autodesk is trying to fill in any gaps it has between BIM and 3D GIS. Autodesk gets a gold star for holding the announcement until after the ESRI User Conference. Autodesk is taking a very different route than Google and Autodesk here, focussing on standards-based tools for professionals for 3D modeling. Google and Microsoft seem to be going after the "amateurs" providing free tools to build up and share home made versions of a 3D world.

- press release

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