VerticalGeo

The Google Earth Blog contained this post back in April. I totally missed it. I believe the difficulty in sharing Google Earth data is one of the major problems the system has. Looks like Google is trying to address that problem with Google Earth Builder, a cloud-based storage system for Google Earth data that stores data in a similar way to Google Docs. Here is the Post by Mickey Mellen:

April 21, 2011

More about Google Earth Builder

We mentioned Google’s new “Google Earth Builder” in our wrap-up post yesterday, but decided that it deserved a bit more attention.

In a nutshell, Google Earth Builder is a new way for companies to share their vast repositories of geo data. Rather than needing to configure servers and support a local infrastructure, they can simply upload their data to Google Earth Builder and share it that way. It uses a sharing model quite similar to Google Docs (private, individual access, or public), and the data streams extremely quickly.

The implications of this could be huge. Not only will it be a great solution for large corporations and government entities, but provides a way for any company to generate data for a specific client (such as custom 3D buildings) without necessarily having to post them for the world to see.

An interesting point that Google made is that this data will be easily accessible to anyone (with permission) from their desktop, laptop, smartphone, tablet, etc. That makes sense, but currently the tablet and smartphone clients for Google Earth likely can’t handle this kind of data. Either their comments have been misinterpreted by everyone (including cnet and others), or we’re hopefully looking at some nice updates to their mobile products in the coming months.

They keys that Google seems to be pushing with this is that it’s easy and fast. Both of this seemed clearly evident in the live demo that they provided on stage yesterday. You can watch that video demonstration below:

There were a few fun facts in that video: There have been more than 700 million downloads of Google Earth and that people use Maps and Earth for more than one million hours every day. Wow!

The fact that Google Earth Builder isn’t due out for a few months (some sites say July, Google says Q3), means that it will only be getting faster and smoother. This could be a brilliant tool to help large entities deal with their vast amounts of data, and we’ll find out once it launches later this year.

Rick Marshall will be speaking at the ESRI Federal User Conference (Also called the Fed UC) held at the Walter Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, February 22-24. Rick will be speaking on the subject of “AMC GeoBase ArcGIS Server Visualization Support for Air Mobility Rodeo 2012.” You can read the abstract and details for Rick’s presentation on the ESRI website here: Link.

If you are at the conference please fell welcome to drop in and say hi. We hope to see you there.

VerticalGeo produces 2D and 3D interactive maps and websites using Adobe’s Flash technology. Flash can be integrated with aerial photography to create a perfect tool for visualizing 3D golf course layout and fly throughs, community planning applications, sporting events, new construction layout, real estate listings, and an endless list of products.   If you click on the thumbnail below we will take you to a demo that illustrates the integration of aerial photography and Flash technology to provide an interactive seating visualization for Boise State University’s football stadium.

I discovered a great resource last night as I was looking for a catalog of Web Mapping Services (WMS) to consume while standing up an Open Source GeoServer Stack.  Back in 1994 the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) established a number of standards for geospatial data formats and services.  The Web Map Service has become essential for the exchange of geospatial data through the web.  Worldwide there exist thousands of WMS services offering data with hematic content.

Mapmatters.org is a service that catalogs and tests WMS feeds.

Mapmatters has cataloged more than 1000 WMS services.  Through text or geographical extent searches users can find layers of interest.  Each layer can be previewed on a map or with pre-compiled thumbnails.

In addition to the catalogue mapmatters  also assesses performance and reliability of  WMS services.  For many layers information is available, for instance, how long it takes to download maps from the service and how many times a request failed.

Mapmatters is both a tool for the end-user to find a WMS service that fits the needs of a specific application with respect to the thematic contents and the required technical quality and a tool that tracks how well the service performs and to quickly be notified in case of failure.

Mapmatters is currently in a beta stage and will be extended continously.  Mapmatters.org is a project by GeOps

VerticalGeo is searching for a Spatial Web Developer to work with the DoD on-site at Scott AFB, Illinois (20 miles from downtown St Louis, Missouri).  The Spatial Web Developer will provide technical support and web development utilizing and presenting spatial data in online formats such as an ESRI Flexi-API web-based map viewer.  The Spatial Web Developer will also serve as part of a technical staff and provide assistance, as needed, in interactive web-based mapping solutions.  There will also be opportunities to provide help desk support for subordinate units.  Travel may be required for up to 25% of the time.

VerticalGeo’s Spatial Web Developer employment description is located on the GIS Jobs Clearinghouse at:

http://www.gjc.org/gjc-cgi/showjob.pl?id=1323920292

On November 30 the Google Earth Blog released the following post:

Seamless Topographic USGS maps

A few months ago we showed you Matt Fox’s excellent topographic maps of New Zealand, which were quite impressive. Over the years he’s had many requests to create similar maps with seamless USGS topographic data, and now he’s starting to roll them out on his site.

As you can see from the image above, the maps are remarkably sharp. The are distributed through a rather unique system; rather than just downloading a KMZ file, you download an installation program that adds the maps to your PC as Super Overlays. To try it for yourself, Matt is offering a free download of the San Francisco area, available here.

For comparison, you can check out our “best topo map interface” post from 2006 (a free service of USGS topo maps for the US). While they were impressive five years ago, the new maps are significantly higher quality.

For more, be sure to visit Google Earth Library and read Matt’s full blog entry.

Looks like a very interesting addition to the Google Earth Library, and one that will be very useful going forward.

Back on October 5 I posted a post titled, “GIS On The Web Is OK, Sometimes….”

I was contacted by a reader and asked to clarify my comments.  I will attempt to do that:

I am a retired Air Force C-130 Navigator and after I retired I founded VerticalGeo, a Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business providing GIS consulting services to the US Air Force.  We do quite a bit of consulting within Air Mobility Command’s GeoBase program.  We are used to working with some of the great enterprise mapping tools the GeoBase Program uses, but our company is too small (and we keep busy because our profit margin is low) to purchase tools such as ArcGIS Server for use in our own mapping projects.

I worked for ESRI for a year and have been a huge advocate for their software, but it is just too expensive for small companies like VerticalGeo to purchase much of their software, particularly the data sharing tier tools.  VerticalGeo has purchased ArcGIS Desktop software and we do a pretty good job of data authoring.  With the introduction of ArcGIS Online ESRI has delivered a free online Data Presentation tool that smaller companies like VerticalGeo can use to present their work without having to invest in the entire Arc Line of products.  But, ArcGIS Online is limited in what you can do with it and how much data you can display.  ESRI still doesn’t have an enterprise system that can be used to author, distribute, and present data that is affordable for companies like ours to own.  I am inspired that it looks like ArcGIS 10.1 will be offered as a SAAS product, because that makes the solution easier for companies like VerticalGeo to use on demand, but the cost is still too expensive.

We have recently been dabbling into the Open Source Geo Stack (http://opengeo.org/technology/) of software tools and it looks promising, but I believe for the most part Open Source GIS is a little bit light on the G (Geographic tools) and heavy into the IS (Information Systems).  You have to be more of an IT professional than a Geographer to use most of the tools offered through Open Source vendors.

What I would like to see happen is for the GIS community to come together and build our own Open Source Geo Stack that is simple to install and use (light on the IS) and provides ESRI-like analysis and authoring tools (heavy on the G).  Everyone likes to use Google Earth because it is a simple tool that works great and provides unparalleled visualization.  It just isn’t a data authoring tool.  I would like to create a suite of geo tools that is simple to use, powerful, covers data authoring, distribution, and presentation tiers, and can be used by map makers and analysts alike.

Here is a link to a super post by ESRI‘s Keith Mann in the Fall 2011 edition of ArcUser magazine that provides a tutorial on how to customize your Map Gallery on ArcGIS Online.  This should help organizations bring their own look and feel to what is an otherwise bland map gallery provided by ESRI at ArcGIS Online.  The ability to customize should help us who use ArcGIS Online eavery day to bring our own flavor to our ESRI hosted maps.  Kudos to ESRI for providing the capability to customize our ArcGIS Online galleries.

The Google LatLong Blog today had this great post about the most current technology adoption for Google Maps:

“Where am I?” and “What’s around me?” are two questions that cartographers, and Google Maps, strive to answer. With Google Maps’ “My Location” feature, which shows your location as a blue dot, you can see where you are on the map to avoid walking the wrong direction on city streets, or to get your bearings if you’re hiking an unfamiliar trail. Google Maps also displays additional details, such as places, landmarks and geographical features, to give you context about what’s nearby. And now, Google Maps for Android enables you to figure out where you are and see where you might want to go when you’re indoors.

When you’re inside an airport, shopping mall or retail store, a common way to figure out where you are is to look for a freestanding map directory or ask an employee for help. Starting today, with the release of Google Maps 6.0 for Android, that directory is brought to the palm of your hands, helping you determine where you are, what floor you’re on, and where to go indoors.

Detailed floor plans automatically appear when you’re viewing the map and zoomed in on a building where indoor map data is available. The familiar “blue dot” icon indicates your location within several meters, and when you move up or down a level in a building with multiple floors, the interface will automatically update to display which floor you’re on. All this is achieved by using an approach similar to that of ‘My Location’ for outdoor spaces, but fine tuned for indoors.

Mall of America in Minneapolis before and after, with a floor selector

San Francisco International Airport before and after, with 3D tilt

We’ve initially partnered with some of the largest retailers, airports and transit stations in the U.S. and Japan, including:

• Mall of America, IKEA, The Home Depot, select Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, Daimaru, Takashimaya and Mitsukoshi locations and more. Watch an IKEA demo here.
• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Narita International (NRT), among others.
• JR and Tokyu Corporation

For a detailed list of participating locations, please visit our help center. And this is just the start–we’ll continually add new indoor maps to public buildings across the world. If you’re a business owner interested in getting your location’s floor plan included in Google Maps, visitmaps.google.com/floorplans.

We’re thrilled Google Maps continues to provide you with new and helpful perspectives—whether you’re rushing through the airport or finding your way around a mall. To visit our website and learn more about indoor Google Maps and other features, start here.

Posted by Brian McClendon, VP of Engineering, Google Earth and Maps