Chapter Name: The Hague (The Netherlands) By: Air Cdre RNLAF retd. Ir. Gerrit Schoonderbeek
Summary of Meeting:
The 16th
September 2009 meeting of Chapter The Hague was organized at CycloMedia Technology
in Waardenburg, The Netherlands.
Chapter Vice President, Air Commodore RNLAF (ret) Gerrit Schoonderbeek welcomed
the participants and reminded them of the next two meetings for the year 2009:
On 28 October 2009 the topic will be “National Operations / ICMS” and on 10
December 2009 the Annual dinner will be organized at Thales in Huizen, The
Netherlands. He further invited the members to come forward with suggestions
for topics for meetings in the year 2010.
He then handed over the floor to representatives of CycloMedia
Technology.
Mr. Jan Willem Wolters, the new CEO of CycloMedia Technology also welcomed the
Afcea Chapter members and informed the audience that CycloMedia Technology
specializes in the large-scale and systematic visualization of environments
based on 360° panoramic photographs (cycloramas). Due to, by CycloMedia
Technology developed recording- and process technology, large areas are
photographed and entered in an online database. Of each recording
location, orientation and time are registered, which makes versatile
applications possible, such as 3D measurements and modeling. He also mentioned
the major areas of interest for his company: to take photo’s (cyclorama’s) from
moving vehicles as cars (ground-to-ground) and/or aircraft (air-to-ground); 3D
representation of large areas, starting with the whole of The Netherlands and
content analysis resulting in information related to the individual pixel
level.
The first speaker, Mr. Peter de With is Professor Signal and Video Processing at
the Technical University of Eindhoven and also Vice President Video Processing
at CycloMedia Technology and he has been active in the field of image
processing for more than 25 years. Professor de With started with a short
description of the fundamental techniques that are used to obtain a complete
database of the Netherlands, which includes data from over 40 million (aerial
and ground) photographs. He then discussed four applications:
- Fixed rigid objects. An example was the automatic detection and classification of traffic signs, both from normal photographs as from so-called cyclorama’s. With the self-developed algorithms a detection score of 90-95% was achieved!
- Moving rigid objects. Examples given included the real-time detection of the abuse of bus lanes in Eindhoven and the wide-scale analysis of compound storage areas. Here super fast search mechanisms and smart data storage mechanisms had to be developed to handle the enormous amount of data available. For this project CycloMedia Technology received the European price for “Content Analysis”.
- Scene understanding - behavior & interaction. This included human behavior surveillance and 3 scene reconstruction for post-event analysis. An example was given concerning suspected human behavior detection (leaving unguarded parcels/luggage behind, etc.) and the results of this project will also be used for the early detection of people who are in danger of having a swoon.
- Information filtering and analysis of aerial photographs. Discussed were the detection mechanisms of houses and retrieving all kinds of information from the photographs. This included an automated list of changes observed since the last photographs were taken and the interpretation of these differences.
Professor de With concluded:
- Content analysis is the next phase of image database use
- CycloMedia Technology has its own competence in the area of image analysis
- Co-operation with European research programs has started
The
next speaker, Mr. Ron Borstel (Accountmanager Defense and Homeland Security),
assisted by Mr. Wim Smith (Senior Manager Defense and Homeland Security),
choose as his topic “Visualizations for a more secure World”. First he discussed some of the properties and
revolutionary technology of the by CycloMedia Technology developed DCR-7
(Digital Cyclorama Recorder). This recording vehicle makes - without stopping -
geometrical correct cycloramas every 5 meters at driving speeds up to 80
kilometers per hour (in earlier days the recording vehicle had to stop for each
recording). It is now possible to make
recordings with a position accuracy of less than 10 centimeters of places that
could not be reached before, such as state roads and high ways.
Mr. Borstel then discussed the intension of CycloMedia Technology to build
strategic databases: CycloMedia’s technology visualizes complete cities, states
and countries from public roads and from the air. Using specially equipped cars (or aircraft),
millions of geometrically correct images are recorded. The images and their
exact geo references and orientations are stored into a database allowing
instant retrieval. CycloMedia Technology keeps these databases up-to-date and
actualizes the images in close consultation with its customers that all share
the need to quickly visualize their assets in the public space such as
property, street furniture and their surroundings. Cycloramas give an instant
view of these assets. Users include local and national government agencies,
public infrastructure projects, financial institutions, construction and utilities
companies, real estate managers and security & defense organizations.
Starting with the whole of the Netherlands database, CycloMedia Technology
foresees extensions to other countries, possibly worldwide.
The meeting was concluded with the traditional lunch.
Definition of used acronyms:
RNLAF = Royal Netherlands Air Force
Ret = Retired
ICMS = Intensivering Civiel-Militaire Samenwerking
(Intensify Civil-Military Co-operation)
CEO = Chief Executive Officer
3D = 3 Dimensional
DCR = Digital Cyclorama Recorder
Guest Speaker(s):
|
Speaker’s Full Name |
Rank |
Position |
Organization |
|
Jan Willem Wolters |
Civilian |
Chief Executive Officer |
CycloMedia Technology |
|
Peter de With |
Civilian |
Professor
Signal and Video Processing |
Technical
University Eindhoven |
|
Ron Borstel |
Civilian |
Account Manager Defense and Homeland Security |
CycloMedia Technology |
|
Wim Smith |
Civilian |
Senior Manager Defense and Homeland Security |
CycloMedia Technology |
Photograph #1:
|
|
Mr. Jan Willem Wolters, |
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|
Position |
Full Name |
Rank |
Position |
Organization |
|
|
|
Center |
Jan Willem Wolters |
Civilian |
Chief Executive Officer |
CycloMedia Technology |
|
|
Photograph #2:
|
|
Part of the Afcea Chapter The Hague members |
Photograph #3:
|
|
Air Cdre RNLAF (ret) Gerrit Schoonderbeek, |
||||||
|
Position |
Full Name |
Rank |
Position |
Organization |
|
|
|
Left |
Peter de With |
Civilian |
Vice President Video Technology |
CycloMedia Technology |
|
|
|
Right |
Gerrit Schoonderbeek |
Air Cdre RNLAF (ret) |
Vice President |
Afcea Chapter The Hague |
|
|
Photograph #4:
|
|
Mr. Ron Borstel, Account Manager Defense and Homeland Security at
CycloMedia Technology, |
||||||
|
Position |
Full Name |
Rank |
Position |
Organization |
|
|
|
Left |
Ron Borstel |
Civilian |
Account Manager Defense and Homeland Security |
CycloMedia Technology |
|
|
|
Right |
Gerrit Schoonderbeek |
Air Cdre RNLAF (ret) |
Vice President |
Afcea Chapter The Hague |
|
|
Photograph #5:
|
|
Air Cdre RNLAF (ret) Gerrit Schoonderbeek, |
||||||
|
Position |
Full Name |
Rank |
Position |
Organization |
|
|
|
Right |
Wim Smith |
Civilian |
Senior Manager Defense and Homeland Security |
CycloMedia Technology |
|
|
|
Left |
Gerrit Schoonderbeek |
Air Cdre RNLAF (ret) |
Vice President |
Afcea Chapter The Hague |
|
|
