Gift Guides abound this time of year, but gifts are only as good as their on-the-job usefulness. What would make your job easier, provide more accuracy and save time and money?

From hardware to services to gadgetry, the AECCafe Technology Gift Guide includes items and services you may want to buy for yourself, plus a couple of gadgets loved ones may be able to buy for you, plus some you may just envision in your wildest dreams!

BLK360 3D Scanner

While this product was on last year’s Technology Wish List, I believe it is still a winner for 2017. Leica introduced its BLK360 3D scanner at Autodesk University 2016, which was met with great awe when attendees saw how small it is. It is 6.5 inches tall and four inches in diameter, weighing 2.2 lbs., and has one single button on its housing, giving the impression of a Star Trek device.

But the minimalist design has a purpose: the BLK360 3D scanner is designed to be controlled via iPad, thereby eliminating the need for hardware inside the scanner and relying on an external device.

The iPad functionality comes to Leica from Autodesk, with their ReCap 360 Pro Mobile edition that provides a controller for operating the BLK360. ReCap 360 registers scans wirelessly that have been captured by the BLK360 in real time. Autodesk cloud services make it possible for users to share or transfer data into Autodesk design software for generating 3D models, meshing, and other analysis tasks.

While the small size may suggest the BLK360 has limited range and capacity, oddly enough it is capable of capturing 360,000 points per second, making it a very high quality 3D scanner. The range of the BLK360 is 60 meters, accuracy 4 mm, with several scanning methods: infrared sensors for thermal imaging, laser and visible light imaging, are just a few. In just three minutes, the scanner can capture a 360 degree scan, and also is outfitted for HDR and LED flash support.

The price: $15,990 USD, which will include a subscription to Autodesk’s ReCap 360 software package.

Maptitude

For the USA (international data is here), Maptitude comes with

• 700+ demographics for most geographies including states and counties
• 550+ variables at the ZIP Code level
• 1,800+ population characteristics at the local level (Census Tracts)

Want to target your product to those ZIP Codes that have the most under-25 year-old householders earning over $200,000? Easy! (That would include ZIP Codes 10016, 10003, and 10012 in Manhattan.)

Want to identify those areas where renters earn more than $100,000 but spend under 20% of their income on rent? A cinch! (That would be the darker red tracts in the Manhattan map)

Whether you want the latest population statistics, the broadest collection of Census data, or future demographic projections, Maptitude has you covered.

The latest demographics are included free with Maptitude 2017 only. Each annual release of Maptitude includes new data, and Maptitude 2017 includes age by income for the first time. Don’t have Maptitude 2017? Purchase or upgrade to Maptitude 2017 to use this premium data.

DJI Inspire 2 Drone

The Inspire 2 Premium Combo from DJI bundles the Inspire 2 professional quadcopter with the Zenmuse X5S gimbal camera with Micro 4/3 sensor. In addition, the Inspire 2 features the CinemaDNG raw and Apple ProRes codec licenses pre-installed, enabling you to record 4K and 5.2K video in these low-compression, post-friendly formats. PC Magazine calls it the best drone out there if money is no object, delivering Raw video capture at 5.2K quality, superb build quality, and top-end performance.
DJI’s magnesium-aluminum-clad Inspire 2 Quadcopter is a powerful cinematic and photographic tool. Combining the Inspire 2 with the separately available X4S and X5S gimbal cameras yields cinema-grade images, which can be recorded in high bit rates using H.264 and H.265 formats, or, in the case of the X5R, various flavors of Apple ProRes and CinemaDNG raw using the required licenses available from DJI. All the recording functionality is processed by the Inspire 2’s CineCore 2.0 image processing engine.

Package Includes:
DJI Inspire 2 Premium Combo with Zenmuse X5S and CinemaDNG and Apple ProRes Licenses
Manufacturer Accessories:
Remote Control (Transmitter)
4x Propeller Pairs
2x DJI Intelligent Flight Battery
Battery Charger
Charging Hub
Power Cable
USB Cable
16GB MicroSD Memory Card
Vision System Calibration Plate
3x Gimbal Damper
Propeller Mounting Plates
Carrying Case
4x Battery Insulation Sticker
Additional Accessories
Sandisk Ultra 64GB MicroSD Memory Card
6PC Graduated Filter Kit
Variable Neutral Density Filter (ND2-ND400)
5PC Cleaning Kit
Microfiber Cleaning Cloth

URC Smartphone Solution for 3D Scanning

Structure Reports from URC Ventures takes the sensor data from Apple’s new ARKit and merges it with URC Ventures’ 3D reconstruction technology. This marriage is expected to make it possible for companies to develop apps to model buildings in 3D with just an iPhone.

According to URC Ventures’ CEO David Boardman, Structure Reports combines the rich sensor data available from Apple’s ARKit with the 3d reconstruction capabilities of the industry leading mobile phone 3d reconstruction pipeline from URC Ventures.  StructurePro enables software companies to build applications that can be used by construction workers, building inspectors, or insurance claims adjusters to successfully model buildings from iPhone imagery.

To explore licensing URC Ventures image processing pipeline or partnering on the development of solutions please contact Tony Jacobson, VP of Product, (425) 285-4303, tony.jacobson@urcventures.com.

Padzilla Interactive Case is an 150-inch case that attaches to your iPad or iPad, created by Crunchy Logistics.  The case is multi-touch capable and also comes in a 70-inch version. With a fully functioning home button, volume controls, multiple touch points, and camera, your Padzilla will look, feel, and work exactly like a giant iPhone or giant iPad. Because Padzilla is a fully functioning Giant iPad, Giant iPhone, or Giant Android, you have access to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and can download any app that is available. If you’re building your own app, simply load it onto Padzilla’s iPhone or iPad device through iTunes or TestFlight and you’re ready to go.

Padzilla can become an interactive table, be mounted in your lobby, stand at your trade show with a traveling mount, or mounted on a wall. Weighing in at approximately $35,000 USD, it might be the most expensive techno device on the market this holiday season.

Communications tower inspections typically require the site to be shut down and the tower climbed by an expert rigging team. If the tower is non-climbable, an elevated work platform must be used to allow close-up inspection of the antennas and equipment. Capturing imagery and other information with drones enables significant cost savings, eliminates health and safety risks of tower climbs, and reduces the time required to assess tower conditions. The 2017 Be Inspired Awards submissions included several compelling examples of the use of reality modeling for tower inspections.

SEIKEY S.r.l. is using an innovative method for inspecting the operating parameters of 11,800 radio base stations (RBS) in Italy for risk prevention, compliance, and the maintenance and development of the 3, 4, 4.5, and 5G networks. Inspections are carried out through high definition photography, LiDAR sensors, thermographic cameras, and spectrum analyzers. During the inspection phase, it is possible to view the data that the drone is acquiring in real-time through ProjectWise. Using ContextCapture, MicroStation, and Bentley Map, data is collected, processed, and managed in ProjectWise where, through Bentley Navigator, 3D visualization provides a comprehensive and realistic view of situations requiring intervention. The management of flight schedules, the collection and preparation of the necessary permits, and the management of collected and processed data posed significant challenges. ProjectWise proved to be essential for this operational management. ! The inspection method led to a reduction in the risk to human life and a reduction in inspection times, where previously it took five days to perform an RBS inspection, it can now be done in six hours.