3D London: Google Earth

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With recent developments here in CASA we somehow managed to miss the addition of automated 3D models into Google Earth for London. The mix of hand made and we presume LiDAR derived models is stunning with resolution down to modelling the chimneys on many buildings:


The quad at University College London is notably impressive, as is Trafalgar Square. The model is far from complete but we assume other areas are on their way.

Music: London Town by Rod Kinny on unsigned.

Virtual London - Available via Skape World January 2010

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Its been some years coming but finally a high resolution, photomapped Virtual London model is about to be released. Its been produced by Infoterra under their new 'Skape' initative which we wrote about a few months ago. The results are quite simply stunning and possibly the best 3D city model we have seen to date.



We don't have the full facts and figures yet, but the model launches to Skape users in January/February 2010. Its nice to see Infoterra taking the lead on this, they were the company who helped us out with our early Virtual London work and one of the few companies actively involved in University based research and sharing their data.

Take a look at http://www.skapeworld.com/ for more info.

See also the Skape Blog for the latest news on the software, views and development.

Textured LiDAR Scan of London: 1.5 Billion Points

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The movie below provides a quick glimpse of our latest dataset in CASA - a LiDAR scan of London within the M25 ring road, the model is made up of in excess of 1.5 billion points:

LiDAR Scan of London - Textured from digitalurban on Vimeo.

The points have been converted to a surface, texture mapped with aerial imagery and visualised in LandXplorer by Autodesk. A non textured mapped version can be seen below:

LiDAR Scan of London from digitalurban on Vimeo.

Thanks go to Duncan Smith at CASA for doing the processing and Cities Revealed for the data supplied by Landmap.

Note - the movie is slightly lower quality than our normal output here at digital urban as our Mac has been nicked, normal service should return next week...

LiDAR Scan of London in LandXplorer

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The movie below details a 1 meter resolution scan of London using LiDAR (an optical remote sensing technology that measures properties of scattered light to find range and/or other information of a distant target via laser pulses, Wiki). The ability to load in the entire scan of London - some 1,500 kmsq - is thanks to LandXplorer by Autodesk and we are impressed:

LiDAR Scan of London from digitalurban on Vimeo.

Autodesk LandXplorer offers a collection of functions to interactively compose, present, explore, analyze, and edit geodata-based 3D models. In a sense, they represent a content management system for 2D and 3D geoinformation, which supports the effective handling of geodata assets.

Take a look at http://www.3dgeo.de/products.aspx for more info, we will have more on the LiDAR scan of London in future posts.

Thanks go to Duncan Smith at CASA for doing the processing and Cities Revealed for the data supplied by Landmap.

The Battle to Rebuild London has Begun: The Guardian

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Victor Keegan, writing in The Guardian, takes a look at the number of companies working on building London as a 3D model. From high end architectual represenations to Second Life the article takes a look at the history and the gold rush to build a three-dimensional replica of London, complete with streets, shops, parks, even the underground system.

Our work is covered, although its almost six years of work we would like to forget, being ahead of the field, new planning laws about to go through and a real chance of changing how Londoners view and have a say about their city - still c est la vie, as Victor states:

The biggest - covering not just central London but an area stretching out to the M25 - is also the most bizarre: a publicly funded project that the public can't see. Built by University College in association with Connect London, it boasts 3.2m building blocks and could have gone live two years ago, well ahead of the competition, as part of Google Earth, but for our friends at Ordnance Survey, which controls the vital database refused permission. Cue the Free Our Data campaign.

Take a look at the full article via The Guardian Online.

See also:

The Guardian - Virtual London and the Ordnance Survey

Londonist's View

The Full Statements from Ordnance Survey and Google

Ed Parsons (Geospatial Technologist of Google) No Comment, Just Grab a Pint

Air Pollution in the City Visualisation: Nitrogen Dioxide, London

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Air Pollution Visualisation: Nitrogen Dioxide, London from digitalurban on Vimeo.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2): NO2 is produced in high temperature combustion processes and chemical reactions in the atmosphere. Road transport is responsible for 60 per cent of emissions of NOx (the pollutant that causes NO2) in London. It can affect the lungs and airways when exposed over long periods or at high concentrations over a short period.

The movie about depicts our visualisation at CASA of N02 in London, created in association with the Environmental Research Group at Kings College London. The movie was created to illustrate the use of the Virtual London model to gain a sense of location and place when communicating geo-specific information.

Moving data into the third dimension can however be counter productive. While the movie clearly communicates areas of high N02 concentration it also falsely suggests to some that the air is clear above the peaks - which is course it is not as N02 is measured from a set height. Although in general we would argue that it is more successful than the standard 2D map in getting the spatial information across...(?)

Click 'HD' in the movie to view in high definition via Vimeo.

Simulated Freedom: Movie

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Rammy Elsaadany, a Graduate Diploma student in Architecture at the Bartlett, University College London has integrated parts of our Virtual London model into his final project movie.

Using a mix of 3D max and After Effects, Illustrator and various other software packages he has produced the following visualisation entitled 'Simulated Freedom':



Its refreshing when a student takes away your model and comes up with such an intricate sequence.

Take a look at Rammy's other movies on YouTube, especially Synthetic Space.

Crysis Mod SDK Released and London Update Movie

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We have been holding off on writing the tutorial on how to import objects into Crysis as a new release of the development kit was due and with it various changes that would of made our current method obsolete.

Crytek have just released an official update and we are currently putting it through its paces in the office, once we have a final import path confirmed we will put a full tutorial online. Till then embedded below is the movie shown at the Barbican, Cinema 2, London as part of our talk on Digital Geography and Web 2.0:




We should have some news on how the update changes importing objects for architectural visualisation in the next couple of days.

Goodbye London - Hello Phuket: 3D City Maps in Second Life

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In the light of the Ordnance Survey asking us to remove our London Model from Second Life and while we wait for details on licensing we thought it was worth carrying on the work but this time with a different dataset.

Thus while Virtual London sits on a shelf due to data restrictions we have used Virtual Phuket as a prototype 3D Map system within Second Life.

The movie embedded below illustrates how sections of the model can be queried to view underlying data, loaded and scrolled by 'rezzing prims' from our server.



Music by New Inception

It is still early days but at least we can get on with the research now without any worries on copyright, just a shame its not London.

Thanks go to Joel for working on the system and Chuthatip Achavasmit for the Phuket data.

Virtual London: Removed from Second Life at Request of Ordnance Survey

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Our Virtual London model in Second Life has been removed from the collaborative environment at the request of the Ordnance Survey.

The research is currently 'pending license clearance' as the Ordnance Survey are 'uncomfortable' with the use of the data.

Details on the work currently unavailable are in the post below, we are reserving comment at request on this one, but i guess you know our views...

Three Dimensional Collaborative Geographic Information Systems (3DC/GIS) are in their infancy, Google Earth opened up the concept of three dimensions to the mainstream but issues with data copyright, the inability to effectively tag data to buildings and the asynchronous nature of the platform have limited developments.

Second Life however provides a synchronous platform with the ability to tie information, actions and rules to objects opening the possibility of a true multi-user geographical information system. It has been notoriously difficult to import 3D data into the Second Life but at CASA we have managed to import our Virtual London model of 3 million plus buildings into a scrolling map. The map is built from prims that 'res' our of a central point to build accurate models based on Ordnance Survey MasterMap with height data supplied by InfoTerra.

The movie embedded below illustrates a section of Canary Wharf, London building in real-time, note the movie represents work in progress:



For past details see the Ordnance Survey/Google and Virtual London thread.

3D Collaborative Geographic Information Systems - Virtual London in Second Life

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Three Dimensional Collaborative Geographic Information Systems (3DC/GIS) are in their infancy, Google Earth opened up the concept of three dimensions to the mainstream but issues with data copyright, the inability to effectively tag data to buildings and the asynchronous nature of the platform have limited developments.

Second Life however provides a synchronous platform with the ability to tie information, actions and rules to objects opening the possibility of a true multi-user geographical information system. It has been notoriously difficult to import 3D data into the Second Life but at CASA we have managed to import our Virtual London model of 3 million plus buildings into a scrolling map. The map is built from prims that 'res' our of a central point to build accurate models based on Ordnance Survey MasterMap with height data supplied by InfoTerra.

The movie embedded below illustrates a section of Canary Wharf, London building in real-time, note the movie represents work in progress:



Music by The Tartan Rascals

Each object can be tagged with data, coloured or replaced at will within the collaborative environment that is Second Life. In additional to this rule sets can be assigned to sub-objects allowing agent based models to be integrated into the system.

Our next step is to import a live GPS feed of a tagged member of CASA onto a scaled avatar on the map, the 3D buildings will in theory scroll and build as the person walks around London in real life.

We are also working on tagging information and textures to the facades, allowing perhaps for the first time a public 3DC/GIS to be feasible.

If you have Second Life installed you can visit us by clicking here - you will get a red arrow pointing skywards, simply fly up to our section of Second Nature island in association with the Nature Network.

You can download Second Life from here.

Thanks go to Joel at CASA for writing the code.

Virtual London in Second Life - Rezzing a City of 3.3 Million Buildings

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As part of our GeoVue project at CASA we have the first working example of porting areas of Virtual London into Second Life.

Created around a simple North/South /East/West interface the city has been split up into sections with data loaded as and when required - in theory the whole of London could be loaded in over time.



Second Life has many restrictions on importing objects, our method ports a KML from an extruded building footprint with height attributed via LiDAR data.

The work so far is proof of concept rather than a polished model, as the movie below demonstrates:




Music by Denny Schneidemesser

Loading of sections is currently slow, this being worked upon, the next phase is to read in real-time GPS data of a pedestrian and to get the city to build around him/her while they walk...

Thanks go to Joel for writing the code.

New Scientist - Ordnance Survey and Virtual London

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Its good to see geography in the New Scientist and their write up of the Virtual London/Ordnance Survey issue raises some good points with additional views from other professionals in the industry.

Its a bit of a moment to be in New Scientist, just a shame its under circumstances of research having to take a new route rather than launching a model of London that would of changed the way people view and commented on urban planning and architecture.

See also:

The Guardian - Virtual London and the Ordnance Survey

Londonist's View

The Full Statements from Ordnance Survey and Google

Ed Parsons (Geospatial Technologist of Google) No Comment, Just Grab a Pint

Guardian Newspaper - Virtual London and the Ordnance Survey

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The Guardian - a National Newspaper in the UK - has a full page spread on the story of Ordnance Survey and the licensing of our Virtual London model.

Entitled 'Want to see a great 3D model of London online? Ordnance Survey says no' the article by Michael Cross examines the issues behind the Ordnance Surveys decision.

You can read the full article online via the Technology Guardian site.

Full details on the story can be found in our original post - Ordnance Survey and Google Statements on Virtual London.

Ordnance Survey and Google Statements on Virtual London in Google Earth

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Despite the best of our efforts we have been informed by Google and the Ordnance Survey that our Virtual London model will not be appearing in Google Earth due to data licensing issues.

The decision by the Ordnance Survey effectively puts a stop to six years of research to openly inform the public about changes to London's built form via a publicly accessible model. Negotiations have been going on between Google and the Ordnance Survey for the last year, in two distinct stages. Our model, detailed in the movie below and containing 3 million buildings has been running locally in Google Earth during this time:



The first phase of negotiations broke down 6 months ago at a time when the Ordnance Survey were under increasing pressure to justify their licensing arrangements. Full details on this aspect can be found in the Guardian Article by Michael Cross 'Copyright Sinks Virtual Planning'.

The second phase of negotiations took place recently after the notable loss of Ed Parsons at the OS and his subsequent move to Google. This combined with the publication online of the Haringey Heatloss Map which effectively uses the same data as Virtual London - as pictured below - gave renewed hope of a breakthrough:


Sadly, despite the renewed efforts at all levels negotiations have now ceased between all the parties involved.

Ordnance Survey issued the following statement:

"We have had dialogue with Google concerning commercial licensing issues around our data in CASA’s Virtual London model. There are differences in what Google wants and what our licensing framework permits that mean we have not been able to reach agreement.

We provide an open, fair and transparent set of terms for providers seeking to operate in the same commercial space as each other. We cannot therefore license Google in a different way to other providers. We are completely supportive of anyone putting our data on the web as long as they have a license to do so. Regarding the reference to Haringey, it is not the building of the model that is the difference – it is the use.

There is an existing licensing model that works for the original purpose of Virtual London i.e. the availability to London boroughs etc. What Google wanted to do would take it out of those licensing arrangements."

Google on the other hand have issued a single worded statement - simply 'disappointed'.

While it is fair to say that Google can be demanding the lack of movement by the OS does strike of a agency out of touch with today's data requirements.

The Free Data Campaign has a number of posts and information with regards the practices of the OS. While we have not always agreed with them, and indeed have been warned off openly criticising the OS in the past by the powers that be, we cannot deny that the whole episode has been slightly Python'esk.

The OS currently does not have the ability to license models for public usage and this is from a government-funded and approved agency.

What can you do? In the first place join the Public Geodata campaign and if your publicly motivated lobby your MEP about the Inspire plan - see this article from The Guardian in the Free Our Data campaign.

Iconic Cities - London Thoughts

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Since the arrival of Google Earth a lot of our work has been focused on the geographic and photorealistic representation of the city. With a Geographical Information System (GIS) you can easily overlay data and communicate issues to the public at large.

An example of this is our air pollution movie below -


While such views of the city undoubtedly communicate space and place a constant emphasis on aerial photographs can become slightly dry. As such our look at the 3D London Underground map has led to a new look at iconic images to communicate locational and spatial data:



The image above represents our first thoughts (click for a larger view) - its a Friday thing...

Morphing the City - London 'Unfixed'

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Our phase one model of London used to cover 20km, it now extends to the M25 which is over 2000km. However, one of the demonstrators for phase one was the ability to morph the skyline and rise/lower buildings according to application.



The movie above demonstrates this with 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin) rising and sinking out of the ground to be replaced by various fictitious options. A simple movie, but one that hopefully demonstrates the value of a digital model (?)..

Why is Virtual London not publicly available in Google Earth?

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Its a good question and the Guardian Newspaper tackles the issue today in its technology supplement. In an article entitled 'Copyright sinks Virtual Planning' Michael Cross explores the development of the Virtual London model and the issues involved in making it publicly available online.






You can read the article via Guardian Unlimited and if your interested in the issues involved see the blog of the Free Data Campaign.

Interesting times are ahead for the Ordnance Survey, we couldn't of made the model without them and for the time being we cant use it publicly with them..
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St John's Church Newham - Google Earth

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As part of the Virtual London project at CASA we are modelling part of Newham. Developing the area section by section using a combination of LiDAR/aerial and ground based imagery the latest model to be completed is St John's Church.

St John's was designed by Edward Blore, one of the leading architects of his day, in the Early English style with a tall, ornate south western spire. Interesting architectural features are, externally, the lancets (like stone bridges) and internally the moulded piers (grooves in the pillars) and depressed arches (the tops of the arches are flatter than usual).

Modelling St John's has become a slight labour of love in CASA with the aim to produce a rapid modelling technique giving way to frequent visits and concentration on reproducing the ornate windows and architecture.





The movie above displays the model in Google Earth (music:Requiem, Mozart performed by Le CHOEUR DES MARAIS). In the coming weeks the church will be imported into the Oblivion Engine and merged with the developing model of the area, you can view progress to date here. The raw model (24Mb) will be available for download in kmz format early next week.

Thanks goes to Chris Parker for his work on the model.
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Sense of Place in Digital Models

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At the moment our team at CASA are working on a digital model of Stratford, the main location of the London Olympics 2012. Developed from a 1 metre digital terrain model and 1 metre LiDAR the model is gradually gaining a sense of location and place. This is all important as once a certain level is reached a digital model begins to gain a level of realism.

Central to this has been the addition of air photography, as soon as a photograph is draped on the roads and the roof tops the model moves to the next level. At the moment we are using 25cm imagery with 12cm following shortly thanks to the Ordnance Survey.

The value of good quality aeriel imagery should not be under estimated in the construction of virtual cities, if you can combine air imagery with street level detail and facades you are half way to a decent model.

A movie of progress to date will follow soon, note all images are work in progress.