A big thank you to all the speakers and also to the audience. It was a great evening, full of interesting Geo-Topics and yummy pizza.
For everyone who could not be there or would like to recall some information, we will publish the slideshows and the video very soon.
We are looking forward to seeing you on the next GeoMonday on the beauty of maps. Keep checking this blog for updates.
Photogr
ammetry has been around for over 150 years and its first and foremost usage was measurements and cartography. With the reinvention of structure from motion algorithms and the immense increase in computation power new potential got unlocked. With the automated extraction of 3D data meshes can be created automatically and the images can be mapped on the 3D surface. Digital Maps already transition to full 3D reconstructions. The recent developments not only have an impact on the Geospatial Industry, but also in other fields. Image mapped 3D reconstructions have a high visual fidelity and because of this get used more and more visual effects and very recently videogames. With VR the potential further increases as VR makes you feel like you are there. Feeling fully present in a 3D scene makes reconstructions of the real world incredibly interesting as you essentially “teleport” to a different place. The huge importance of this is emphasized by the fact that Facebooks interest in VR is essentially to create a teleporter.
David Finsterwalder is the Founder and CEO of realities.io. Working in Archeology 
he gained profound knowledge in 3D Reconstruction through LiDAR Scanning, UAV and Ground Photogrammetry. Driven by the question how to unlock the potential of the gathered data for public relations and museum context he started to look into realtime 3D graphics and eventually VR HMDs for visualization. Amazed by all the possibilities for scene reconstructions and VR HMDs for Archeology and beyond he founded realities.io.
The hype about VR is in full swing. There is hardly any other technology, that dominates the Entertainment market to that extent. There are basically two species of VR goggles. Most of them are wired or connected to smartphones, which are commonly used in the entertainment industry. AR technology is mainly used to enrich print media or in marketing. Usually this is achieved through the usage of smartphones. Several manufactures offer AR glasses, which could not get a hold in the market. AR lead a niche existence compared to VR. In spite of these leading signs, Robert Meyer states, that the future is AR and VR is obsolete by now already. This presentation shows similarities and differences of the two technologies. We hope to discuss the potential of devices like the Microsoft HoloLens.
Robert Meyer is researcher at HTW Berlin – Department of Informatics, Communication
and Economics. Human-Computer-Interaction in virtual realities has been a core interest of Robert Meyer for years. The current thematic complex is based on the transition of game technology in business and industry applications. Robert Meyer is not only a developer but also has contributed to numerous scientific conceptions within this field.
Remote sensing technology such as LiDAR and image matching algorithms are used for a periodical acquisition of our physical world. Countries, cities, sites, and assets are captured every year, every day, every hour, and every minute. The resulting 3D point clouds are a digital snapshot of the reality and allow to derive information and insights. In this talk, we present techniques to manage, process, and analyze large-scale 3D point clouds. These techniques are relevant for a variety of applications to get new insights, detect changes, and establish workflows for updating and maintaining of existing geo data (e.g., 3D city models, terrain models, tree cadastre).
Rico Richter is a research scientist with the computer graphics systems 
group of the Hasso Plattner Institute at the University of Potsdam, Germany. He has many years of experience in the development of complex processing, analysis, and visualization techniques for massive point clouds. His main focus are research and industrial IT solutions for the management and application of large-scale, highly detailed point clouds.