Delivered on September 1, 2025
Acquiring Waterfront Landscape Data Using a 3D Scanner - by Kindai University
Speaker: Professor, Department of Comprehensive Sociology, Faculty of Comprehensive Sociology, Kindai University
Environmental and Urban Planning Department
Affiliation and position information is as of the time of distribution
Location Information Business Seminar held at Kinki University on July 14, 2025
This seminar discussed the business possibilities of utilizing location information data.
We will introduce the content of each seminar in several installments.
Acquiring Waterfront Landscape Data Using a 3D Scanner
The Iizuka Laboratory is currently conducting research on waterfront landscapes. Why focus on waterfront landscapes in environmental and urban development research? By utilizing 3D scanners to acquire ship location information and analyzing that data, they are solving various issues facing cities with rivers. They spoke about their efforts. They also shared their thoughts on the hot location data business, which is the purpose of this seminar, and their passionate message to students.
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Digital Archiving of Waterfront Spaces: 3D Scanners Open New Frontiers
Until now, 3D point cloud data has been widely collected on land for autonomous driving and various services. However, due to technical difficulties, sufficient data has not been compiled for waterfront spaces. To address this issue, certain researchers have decided to introduce 3D scanners. These high-performance scanners are capable of capturing 640,000 points per second and data up to 120 meters away.
Experiments are being conducted using these high-resolution 3D scanners to scan Japan's waterfronts, such as Dotonbori in Osaka and the Kamo River in Kyoto, in detail and obtain centimeter-level precise point cloud data.
This initiative goes beyond simply capturing beautiful landscapes. It has the potential to revolutionize the use of waterfront spaces in three ways:
・Recreating and Analyzing Historical Landscapes: By overlaying old photographs and paintings from the early Showa period with the latest point cloud data, precise analysis of bridge heights, building shapes, and other aspects from that time can be performed. Comparing the past and present can scientifically elucidate how cities have changed over time.
・Contribution to disaster prevention and safety measures: Detailed waterfront data acquired by 3D scanners is useful for simulations that predict risks during heavy rain and flooding. It can also be used as basic data to support safe ship navigation.
・Construction of digital twins and utilization in tourism: By combining 3D ship models with point cloud data, it is possible to create digital twins that simulate the view from the water. This allows people to experience the charms of waterfronts in advance using virtual reality (VR) and other technologies, and can also help create new tourism content.
The future of waterfront data utilization through industry-academia collaboration
This innovative initiative has made great progress not only through the efforts of individual researchers, but also through collaboration with companies. In particular, collaboration with a company that uses ship location data to support safe waterway navigation has brought a new perspective to the use of waterfront data.
Because ships sway due to the effects of wind and waves on the water, stable data acquisition remains a challenge. However, we are trying to overcome these challenges by considering the characteristics of rivers, selecting locations with stable water levels at floodgates, and seeking advice from companies.
While this research is still in the experimental stage, it holds great potential for rediscovering the value of previously overlooked waterfront spaces and for applications in a variety of fields, including improving safety, promoting tourism, and disaster prevention.
Summary
Waterfront Challenge: Focus on waterfront spaces, where data has not been sufficiently collected until now.
Technology Introduction: Using high-performance 3D scanners, we are precisely digitizing waterfront landscapes down to the centimeter.
Multifaceted Uses: The acquired data can be used in a variety of fields, including historical research, disaster prevention, safe ship operation, and tourism promotion.
Future Outlook: We will further explore the potential of location data, including establishing distortion-free data acquisition methods and collaborating with companies to build digital twins.
Location data will likely become an important tool for revealing unknown aspects of waterfronts and maximizing their value.