Topcon Positioning Systems’ (TPS) has been named by Gartner, Inc. as the winner of the 2011 “Cool Vendor in Energy and Utilities” award.

Topcon’s IP-S2 ground-based imagery and LiDAR systems was adjudged as “cool” due to the combination of 360-degree photo imagery and LiDAR point cloud data which creates an “immersive user experience.” In addition, the Gartner analysis report said, “it reduces costs by commercializing off-the-shelf, ruggedized equipment in a modular way.”

Gartner, Inc. is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. The company’s annual “Cool Vendor” awards are presented to companies and products that focus on “delivering better business results through consumption of both services and technology.” According to Gartner, “delivering and consuming services to improve business outcomes is the new driver of coolness.”

The Gartner report noted that Topcon’s IP-S2 high-definition mobile mapping capabilities includes 64 individual LiDAR sensors on a rotating head, storing up to 1.3 million points per second. A six-lens digital camera simultaneously stores digital color spherical images that are automatically geo-referenced with LiDAR data, creating a colorized point cloud.

Eduardo Falcon, senior vice president and general manager of the TPS Emerging Business Unit, said, “The Gartner ‘Cool Vendor’ awards recognize the best of the best products in various business categories. All products are thoroughly researched by the company's more than 1,200 analysts, making the award something very special.”