In Denver for example. This American city and its skyline are being navigated digitally. The data for this originates from Leica CityMapper. Using digital city models, city planners can better understand the events in a city, can simulate building projects and can explain population changes. In addition it serves as a risk assessment in evaluating things such as the flood risk of an individual building.

The cities of the future are being planned vertically. There will be buildings taller than 1,200 metres, corresponding to around 300 storeys. Up to 100,000 people will live in one building. The idea of the “vertical city” comes from architects Javier Pioz and Maria Rosa Cervera. Monitoring solutions with GPS networks from Leica Geosystems can help in the construction of high-rises in new dimensions.

The invisible underground infrastructure needs to be surveyed in the same way as all the visible above-ground infrastructure. So, in London for example, a 3D map of the underground supply pipes has been produced. Using a large radar sensor, an extensive area has been scanned in a short space of time and streets have been digitised both above and below ground.

Along with the rapid development of aircraft in the 1920s, came the desire to construct an aerial camera and to use aerial photographs in autograph evaluation. For the successor device, Heinrich Wild dealt intensively with optical design in addition to his chief designer and workshop manager roles. The lens he developed was used in the new C2 aerial camera.

The first national height network in Switzerland originated in the port of Geneva. The “Pierres du Niton” form the reference point for the national levelling network. Precision levelling has been extrapolated from the two rocks to Basel, Lucerne, Romanshorn and in Ticino since 1864 and was done with instruments and rods from the Kern company in Aarau.

General, create the first topographical map of Switzerland. This is the task that Henri Dufour received when he was appointed as Chief of Staff. For this purpose Dufour requested the production of a Borda circle from the company Kern in 1835 to measure angles – handmade in brass. It was an essential tool for the comprehensively survey of Switzerland and the creation of the “Dufour map” with a scale of 1:100,000.