4 New Aerial Technology Advancements

By Nearmap. 

At the NAVIG8 2022 technology event, Nearmap announced their new aerial technology offerings and their plans for the future. 

As a leading aerial imagery service, Nearmap is continuing to expand their product offerings. Not only do we provide customers with a whole stack of technological resources like AI and image capturing, we also make it easy to access through a subscription-based service. Through our service, construction companies can get an edge over the competition with up-to-date aerial imagery data. 

Don Weigel, head of product at Nearmap, took to the Nearmap NAVIG8 2022 stage to unveil the upcoming products and roadmap — each release further demonstrating how we’re evolving as a company and as an industry. Now we invite you to look closer at our newest offerings that will provide even greater aerial insights in the coming weeks and months. 

Nearmap AI: a powerful suite of analytics products 

Nearmap AI is built on a rich layer of content that uses machine learning to turn high-resolution aerial imagery into information and insights, creating one of the most accurate AI-enabled location intelligence solutions on the market. 

The fifth and latest generation of Nearmap AI (Gen 5) is enabled by a new deep learning model trained on a much larger data set. The product has grown to an automated map of 78 layers (up from 49 layers), and more than 500 facts per address. It includes performance enhancements to existing layers. There are also five new AI packs, which bundle the layers into products for different use cases (roof objects, debris, surface permeability, and pavement markings). A full list of the new AI packs and layers can be found here. 

The launch of Gen 5 enables a range of advanced analytics products that will transform property risk management and emergency preparation and response. 

The product road map announced at Nearmap NAVIG8 2022 includes: 

1 - Transforming risk assessment and disaster response 

Nearmap ImpactResponse empowers insurers, governments, and commercial entities to identify damage post-event and respond accordingly. Immediately following Hurricane Ian, we were up in the air capturing 46 surveys over three days — with 14,000km² of imagery processed. 

ImpactResponse AI insights extend that offering with a complete library of feature classification layers. A preliminary run of this new feature was conducted during our survey of Hurricane Ian. The captures allowed us to automatically identify 136,000 structurally damaged roofs. In addition to post-catastrophe imagery, Nearmap ImpactResponse customers can accelerate virtual inspection workflows with automatic detection of damage, tarps on roofs, debris and more. 

The ImpactResponse AI insights will be delivered quickly after the capture of an aerial survey — giving responders the information needed to: 

• Quickly triage damage and direct critical aid to people and areas in need 

• Restore lives faster by proactively initiating the claims process in instances of obvious damage and total loss 

• Assess ground conditions and understand how essential services and projects have been impacted 

• Verify property damage to allocate relief funding and administer grant programs 

• Easily communicate cleanup and/or rebuilding efforts with project stakeholders 

ImpactResponse is available for purchase now, while the ImpactResponse AI insights are expected to be ready by the end of 2022. 

2 - Property risk and condition assessments 

Nearmap is bringing new AI-enabled solutions to rapidly evaluate the condition and risks for individual properties across city, county and national scales — without the uncertainty that comes with black-box AI models. Each assessment (Roof Condition, Fire Risk and Flood Risk) integrates with your workflows via a transactional API for a near-instantaneous delivery of our extensive set of underlying imagery and AI feature layers. 

Roof condition assessment 

Get an accurate numeric score that indicates the overall roof condition of any property of interest based on eight underlying features. The score comes as a CSV file and PDF and has a click-through action that opens MapBrowser to allow further inspection in greater detail. The roof score can be used alongside imagery insights to help insurers make the best possible decisions in the underwriting, bind and renewal processes. Nearmap Roof Condition Assessment became available October 31, 2022. 

Fire risk assessment 

Wildfires are on the rise nationwide. Nearmap Fire Risk Assessment makes it easy to understand the likelihood that a property will be damaged in the event of a nearby fire with a data-driven score. The assessment synthesizes 16 property attributes across multiple fire buffer zones — vegetation, bodies of water, wooden decking, non-combustible surfaces and more — to output a more robust risk score. Governments and insurers can leverage this score to reliably identify fire vulnerability and advise property owners on actions to boost fire resilience. Nearmap Fire Risk Assessment is expected to go live in early 2023. 

Flood risk assessment 

Floods can make an impact in a moment’s notice. Nearmap Flood Risk considers the surrounding terrain elevation, distance to nearest body of water, and government flood models to score how likely a property is susceptible to flooding. Score in hand, governments can quickly and accurately assess flood vulnerability to help advance their emergency planning and response, while insurers can understand the coverage risk when underwriting a policy and evaluating their book of business. Nearmap Risk Assessment will be available to customers in early 2023. 

3 – HyperCamera 3 now in flight 

HyperCamera 3 (HC3) is the newest generation of our proprietary camera system. The upgrades to HC3 enable unmatched productivity and efficiency — capturing more truth on ground with additional viewing angles, improved 3D reconstruction and new infrared survey opportunities. 

Nearmap users will find that HC3 unlocks more oblique viewing angles, increasing contextual insight with a higher fidelity for parcel, city and county 3D reconstructions. Further, the near-infrared image capture enables new AI insights such as vegetation classification. 

HyperCamera 3 encapsulates our 15+ years of aerial technology experience into a revolutionary survey system that further builds upon our already industry-best image clarity, coverage, content and AI-enabled insights. HC3 is now in commercial flight in Australia and will soon make its debut in North America. 

4 – MapBrowser updates 

Our flagship mapping solution, MapBrowser, is the source of truth for thousands of Nearmap users. This year, we responded to customer feedback around how we can help improve their experience. Our response comes in the form of improved AI visualization, multi-user project collaboration and GeoData link. 

Improved AI visualization 

MapBrowser users can now access the full power of Nearmap AI without any IT integration work required. Improved AI visualization allows more users to view and export all Nearmap AI features as raster and vector layers. Expect this feature to roll out in January 2023. 

Project collaboration 

Multi-user collaboration has been the most requested feature by our customers. This feature builds on the previously released Project capability and allows multiple users to work in the same project. With Project Collaboration, using MapBrowser can increase efficiency and productivity by enabling teams to collaborate in real-time across devices — sharing valuable insights and accelerating timely decisions. Multi-user project collaboration will be available with MapBrowser updates over the next three quarters. 

GeoData link 

Nearmap GeoData Link for MapBrowser is a major functionality upgrade allowing a simple — yet powerful — way to combine Nearmap imagery and content with GIS data managed in an ESRI server. Leveraging GeoData Link for MapBrowser, Nearmap customers can increase their organization’s productivity in new workflows, including: 

• Faster desktop assessments with overlays of parcel boundaries and property details 

• Simplified utility damage protection checks by allowing commercial crews to easily understand the location of underground infrastructure using any connected device 

• Improved emergency response planning by viewing real-world flood zones, traffic patterns, population data, critical infrastructure, and more 

Nearmap GeoData Link for MapBrowser went live at the end of October 2022. 

As you can see, Nearmap has a lot of exciting updates. We continue to push the limits of what’s possible with aerial intelligence as the technologies involved are vital to helping improve our livable world. If you’d like to speak to one of our experts to learn more about our latest offerings, visit here. 

Learn more about Nearmap in their directory or visit www.nearmap.com. 

Original article source: Nearmap