Naver shows 3-D mapping to win NEOM contracts

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Naver shows 3-D mapping to win NEOM contracts

Robots used for 3-D map development are displayed at Naver's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. [KWON YOO-JIN]

Robots used for 3-D map development are displayed at Naver's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. [KWON YOO-JIN]

 
Naver presented its latest three dimensional mapping technologies to win an order for a huge smart city project in Saudi Arabia known as NEOM.  
 
Lead developers from Naver flew to Saudi Arabia earlier this month with high-ranking government officials and representatives of construction companies interested in bidding for parts of the project, which has an estimated budget of $500 billion.  
 
It remains to be seen if the Korean tech firm can compete against bigger players like Microsoft and Amazon.  
 
The Korean company is capable of fast processing of vast amounts of image data at a competitive price, according to Naver developers in a press event Wednesday.  
 
Naver Labs, the division responsible for mapping and object recognition technologies, was able to produce a 3-D map of Seoul at one-tenth the cost of a similar project in Singapore called Virtual Singapore.  
 
A 3-D map of Seoul developed by Naver [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A 3-D map of Seoul developed by Naver [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
“It cost Singapore about 70 billion won ($52 million) for the project using more manual tools like CAD,” said Peck Jong-yoon, a team leader at Naver Labs, “But we can reduce that cost to a tenth.”
 
Another strength is the speed at which a digital map can be simulated. In the S-Map project with the Seoul city government, it took the unit 17 days to complete photographing and 70 days to process 25,463 images that totaled 30 terabytes.  
 
It is more than just a 3-D collection of photographs. The information within the photographs — such as the height of  buildings and the composition of roads and traffic systems — are all analyzed and translated into data that can be used flexibly.
 
The detailed archive of the city landscape can be used in traffic control systems for drones and cars, real estate analysis and natural disaster prevention systems by simulating flooding and other natural disasters.  
 
The tech firm is using its new office building in Bundang, Gyeonggi as a test bed for many mapping technologies and robots.  
 
Naver has developed different types of robots to photograph roads and buildings. An M2 robot can drive autonomously and is capable of adjusting its height depending on the subject of images. The T-series robots can be used in the form of a backpack so a person can carry it and scan places like elevators and stairs.  
 
Outside of Korea, Naver collaborates with Tokyo’s SoftBank to create a similar 3-D map of Japanese cities. Peck said that the project has passed the proof-of-concept stage and will be commercialized next year.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]
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