“Wow” Technology and Other Notes from the #EsriUC Exhibit Floor
TouchTable: always a crowd pleaser but what's really new? In the five plus years since they first appeared at the Esri UC conference there have been some improvements to three key areas:
- Form Factor: The table is offered in 32" 46" and 84" displays
- Touch sensitivity: resolving the number of touch points on the display has been increased to 60 and "palm rejection" is accommodated. Here, the sensitivity is resolving how the display senses pressure points from one user.
- Network connectivity: the way one user can collaborate with another in a remote location has been added. That is, as one person moves the display from one location, a TouchTable device in another location in the same office or miles away will also move.
TouchTable (click for larger image)
Gatewing: Gatewing is a lightweight unmanned aerial vehicle that probably stole the show based on the number of people gawking at this 2 meter-sized styrofoam air wing. What's cool is that it takes off by itself and its flightlines are pre-programmed. There are no worries about crashing this thing because it simply bounces. It holds a 2 kg payload of a digital camera and all the emphemeris data is recorded for easy upload to a mapping application. The most useful applications for Gatewing is in mining operations or other small scale projects that perhaps involve no more than a several square kilometer area
Gatwing (click for larger image)
earthmine had their vehicle outside the San Diego Convention Center and was give demos of their equipment. We recently covered their announcements on All Points Blog.
Rolta
Rolta was demonstrating their OneView Mobile application built on ArcEngine that's being used for applications in damage assessment and asset inventorying. It runs in a disconnected environment but has strong synchronization capabilities that can control security settings.The complete Rolta OneView solution is a BI platform for enterprise operational management.
PLW ModelWorks
I was really struck by the high definition rendering of building facades this company was offering. It's worth peeking at the data sets they have produced for cities as the building features are rendered beautifully.
TerraGo
TerraGo is back leveraging Adobe IP and is also working hard at establishing some fairly significant technology partnerships with Hitachi, Overwatch,and BAE. TerraGo version 6 now becomes a platform SDK on which other applications can be built and the company is looking towards offering TerraGo Mobile on the Android platform.
Astech Mobile Mapper 10
The Ashtech Mobile Mapper 10 is a ruggedized unit with battery life lasting 20 hours. At 380 grams and using a SiRF chipset that assures quick connect time Ashtech believes the unit offers some benefits that include a competitive $12K price tag.
Accela Analytics
Accela, a government solution provider, was demoing a nice activity tracking and analysis app for the iPad. Built on Accela's Automation platform that integrates with ArcGIS, the app allows government workers to access their agency data on the go. The app was built to have a basic, simple user interface that would be configurable according to the role of the individual, from city manager to field personnel. The app is available for free on Apple’s App Store. (Images below courtesy of Accela)
