Direct Dimensions has long been interested in applying our 3D laser scanning technology to aid in the field of “anaplastology,” the medical field of making cosmetic prosthesis which improve the quality of life for those who need them. We have worked extensively with some of the profession’s most talented practitioners, including a long-standing partnership with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Department of “Art as Applied to Medicine.”

1. Spar 2010 has an agenda that offers something for everyone.
2. Mobile and Scan to BIM appear to be the top tracks.
3. Add the exhibits and the networking and the ROI is going to be hard to beat.

1. Bentley and Pointools singed a Technology Transfer agreement in October 2009.
2. This has the potential to be a major link between laser scanning and CAD.
3. Bentley, Pointools and Spar Point will host a seminar on Thursday to preview the future integration.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s – NOAA Coastal Services Center has prepared an excellent resource document entitled, “LiDAR 101 – An Introduction to LiDAR Technology, Data and Applications”. With nearly 60 pages of of text and graphics this is a must read if you want to understand the basics.

This would make a great 1 day seminar.

1. A 2005 paper reports on the benefits of using multi-spectral imagery combined with LiDAR to automatically identify buildings.
2. The authors use the NDVI to determine surface roughness, which helped to distinguish trees from buildings.
3. They were able to correctly identify 90% of the existing buildings.

1. The International Water Institute is offering a free one day LiDAR Applications Workshop.
2. The event will take place in Grand Forks, North Dakota on January 26, 2010.
3. This should be an excellent opportunity to learn first hand about the benefits of LiDAR in the management of a large watershed.

The current ASPRS PE & RS has an important article on estimating LiDAR point position errors using a simplified analytical model. (You must be an ASPRS member to download the full article from the site.) The authors – Triglav-Cekada, Crosilla and Kosmatin-Fras are attempting to provide a method for predicting the expected average and maximum [...]

1. The current issue of the ASPRS Journal includes the recently approved ASPRS Professional Services Guidelines.
2. ACSM and MAPPS contributed to the development and review.
3. The Guidelines are based in part on Qualifications-based Selection – QBS.

LM Glasfiber has a research project funded to use LiDAR to develop more intelligent wind turbine blades.
The actual wind speed and direction is not currently used in real time by wind turbines.
It would seem that there are other applications that could use this approach.

Just a quick mention of a potentially important article by Ahmed Mohamed and Benjamin Wilkinson, entitled Direct Georeferencing where they argue for the use of a dual GPS antenna apparatus to more efficiently geo-locate a tripod-mounted scanner. This they claim can eliminate the need for ground control.
To those who celebrate Christmas, I wish you and [...]