A look at the latest news and stories from around the geospatial, AEC, and 3D industries.
Every week we highlight some of our favorite stories from around the internet that cover the geospatial, 3D, and AEC industries. Whether it’s a fascinating case study, insights from an industry thought leader, or deep dives into new tools, there is never any shortage of great writing and storytelling in this industry.
Here are three stories that we loved this week.
Digitally Mapping Mars Has Never Been Easier With This Rendering Technique
Talia Roepel | BGR
A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have some exciting ideas about the future of digital mapping for space exploration. Their research focuses on the challenge that planetary missions are becoming increasingly complex and currently rely on digital terrain maps (DTMs) for landing and navigation in environments that have no GPS access, such as Mars. However, DTMs are not simple to use, requiring manual image cleanup and struggling with inconsistent lighting. The continuation of exploration to places like Mars is dependent on high-quality DTMs. The researchers looked into AI techniques like neural volume rendering to solve this issue.
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Smarter data for a smarter grid: AI-powered lidar is transforming utility infrastructure
James Conlin (Guest Opinion) | Utility Dive
Utilities are increasingly turning to AI-powered lidar to modernize aging grids and better handle climate and environmental challenges. Lidar provides detailed 3D data on power lines, vegetation, and terrain, but its real value comes from AI classification, which turns billions of raw points into actionable insights for vegetation management, infrastructure monitoring, disaster modeling, and compliance. By automating and improving accuracy, AI makes lidar more scalable and predictive, helping utilities shift from reactive maintenance to proactive, data-driven grid management that improves reliability, safety, and cost efficiency.
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The Complex Truth of Drone Surveying Workflows
Carla Lauter | Commercial UAV News
The idea of performing high-grade surveying tasks with drones is a tempting one. Marketing materials often promise that with the right drone and the right software, anyone can achieve professional results. Just buy the package, press a button, and watch high-value deliverables appear. But the reality of real-world surveying is much more complicated. In a well-attended session at Commercial UAV Expo, a group of experienced practitioners shared a more grounded perspective: it just isn’t that easy.
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