"The ESRI International User Conference takes place next week, and it marks the 40th anniversary of the company that Jack built. Much has happened in the evolution of GIS in that span of time, and many companies have come and gone that have tried to commercialize the technology. At this milestone, it seems fitting to take a look at some of the elements that have made ESRI so successful."

The annual Geoinformatics Forum Salzburg (GI Forum 2009) was held at University Salzburg in Austria  July 7 - 10. About 1000 people attended the English speaking event which is combined with the Deutsche language AGIT 2009 event. GI Forum is a GIScience focused event with a strong educational component and AGIT is oriented around applications involving new discovery, research and education involving geoinformatic related technologies.

In Part II of 'Beneath the Surfaces: The Hidden Elegance in Parametric Design'  architect Don Chong continues to discuss the fuss over 'parametric design' and 'computational design', based on his observations at the Bentley SmartGeometry conference in San Francisco recently. His attention turns to design data and the development of design tools in real-time. 

The ability to track change over time within a geospatial context has long been a compelling challenge. The primary limitation is the amount of data that needs to be captured, analyzed and visualized. V1 Editor Matt Ball spoke with Mark L. Feldman, CEO and president of Space-Time Insight about the successful approach that his company has developed, and the many interesting problems that can be solved with this level of insight.

Most technologies to visualize and manipulate three-dimensional models create an environment that’s just two and a half dimensions. Holographic imaging technology promises to provide a display that projects an image that can be manipulated in the full three dimensions. One company that’s working diligently to develop this technology is Zebra Imaging. V1 Editor Matt Ball spoke with Michael Klug, CTO and co-founder, to discuss the progress and potential for this technological breakthrough for geospatial visualization.