Data is the new oil, and all that. You’ve heard the phrase and you know it intrinsically from all the data that fuel local commerce. We’re talking search indexes, listings data, and location intelligence. Data has always been a core value driver in the sector we all call “local.” But is it transforming and becoming more dimensional?
By that we mean 3D. The advancements in rendering 3D experiences in gaming have, as a byproduct, seeped over into local. We heard as much from NextNav’s Ganesh Pattabiraman and HERE Technologies’ Herve Utheza at Localogy Place – the topic of this week’s Place Rewind (video and takeaways below).
Depth of Engagement
Pattabiraman and Utheza are attacking the 3D data opportunity from different angles. But their common path is to apply and develop emerging technologies that enable additional dimension to location data. In many cases, that includes 3D mapping to create user-facing digital experiences that match our 3D world.
Here Technologies recently took a big step in this direction with its platform for developers to build 3D cities. It provides the enabling tools while developers run with it and build 3D mapping interfaces for various use cases. Those include everything from consumer local discovery to municipal productivity and planning.
Meanwhile, NexNav continues to innovate in the area of Z-axis data. In other words, most of our mapping lives have been ruled by lat-long (X & Y) coordinates. The Z axis brings vertical depth into the equation, which is particularly useful in urban areas, and in use cases ranging from food delivery to emergency response.
But again, it’s all about the data. The additional dimension of understanding that’s required for all of the above requires lots of data collection. For example, NexNav taps several data sources including its network of carrier and app partners that pull important device signals (think: altimeter) in privacy-compliant ways.
Enablers & Accelerants
Joining the above enablers & accelerants, cloud platforms (AWS and Azure) as well as game engines (Unity and Unreal) are increasingly focused on location data and 3D capabilities. These adjacent and deep-pocketed industries could accelerate 3D mapping in terms of the underlying tech and the 3D content pipeline.
3D mapping’s enabling tech will also be democratized so that data collection data can be crowdsourced. That includes LiDAR, which is now in high-end smartphones but will soon trickle down to commodity hardware. 5G also looms over all of the above advancements as an enabler for millimeter-precision tracking.
Beyond these tech enablement pieces, the wild card will be consumer adoption and readiness. Like anything else it will take a while to educate and acclimate consumers to use and expect 3D (not to mention sharing 3D location data). Efforts such as Google Live View could accelerate that acclimation process.
We’ll pause there and cue the video for more color from the panel. See the interview in full below and stay tuned for periodic installments of the Place Rewind series with more insights and session coverage. Also check out Localogy’s next conference, Localogy 2021, taking place next month in Los Angeles.
