With the continuous evolution of iGUIDE services and the increasing focus on CAD drawings, 3D models, and technical applications, I am curious whether iGUIDE is considering developing a true 3D laser scanner as part of its future roadmap.
Over the years, iGUIDE has evolved significantly. It started as a powerful solution for real estate virtual tours and marketing, but it is progressively expanding toward technical documentation and AEC (Architecture, Engineering & Construction) workflows. I believe this is a very interesting and natural direction.
One of the aspects that currently distinguishes iGUIDE from many other solutions is the human-based production and validation of floor plans. I have personally used iGUIDE mainly for floor plan generation and, although I have occasionally found some inaccuracies or details requiring correction, I consider these aspects a natural part of a complex workflow and generally issues that can be corrected or reasonably accepted. The important point is that the final output is not simply an automatic extraction of data, but a deliverable produced and reviewed by human operators.
Over the years, iGUIDE has developed an excellent methodology for producing reliable floor plans from a 2D LiDAR-based acquisition system. The workflow has continuously improved and demonstrates a great ability to obtain very good results from this technology.
However, when considering future developments toward more advanced architectural documentation, such as elevations, sections, highly accurate 3D models, and increasingly complete technical surveys, the limitations of a 2D LiDAR acquisition system become evident.
A 2D laser scanner does not capture complete three-dimensional information of the environment. To obtain additional information about vertical elements, elevations, and sections, the scanner must be tilted and multiple acquisitions must be combined. While this is an intelligent and effective solution, it cannot provide the same level of completeness, spatial consistency, and geometric accuracy as a true 3D laser scanner capable of capturing the entire environment in three dimensions from each scan position.
A complete 3D acquisition would not only improve the quality of 3D models, elevations, and sections, but could also further improve the accuracy and reliability of floor plans. Having a greater amount of geometric information available would allow a more precise representation of architectural elements, including openings, windows, and other construction details.
Considering also the recent introduction of features such as window dimension information (currently still in beta), I believe that a 3D acquisition system could represent an interesting evolution to further increase the level of detail and reliability of the delivered information.
Perhaps a possible future direction could be maintaining two different hardware solutions:
- a 2D laser scanner, like the current one, optimized for speed, simplicity, and applications mainly focused on the real estate market;
- a new 3D laser scanner specifically dedicated to the construction, architecture, engineering, and surveying sectors, providing higher-density data and improved capabilities for complex geometries.
In my opinion, the real breakthrough would be combining a true 3D laser scanner with iGUIDE’s existing human-based drafting and quality control process. A complete and dense point cloud, together with professional validation, could produce extremely reliable floor plans, elevations, sections, and 3D models.
This evolution could further strengthen iGUIDE’s position not only in the real estate market but also among architects, engineers, surveyors, and other AEC professionals looking for a reliable technical documentation workflow.
I believe that combining iGUIDE’s current strengths - speed, simplicity, human-validated deliverables, and an integrated workflow - with true 3D laser scanning technology could represent a major step forward.
I would be very interested to know if a dedicated iGUIDE 3D laser scanner is something being considered for the future.