TOLEDO, Ohio — When football fans tune in this season to watch their favorite teams play, and marvel at the amazing 3D mixed reality graphics that seem to leap off the field and onto their screens, they won’t realize that a Toledo-based company – GPRS, and their latest acquisition, TruePoint Laser Scanning – played a large part in their enhanced fan experience.
Videos of Baltimore’s menacing raven swooping in to perch on the uprights at M&T Bank Stadium and a fearsome panther stalking across the roof of Bank of America Stadium have gone viral, with millions of hits online, and they showcase just some of GPRS/TruePoint’s exceptional work for clients like The Famous Group, who create the amazing mixed reality (MR) graphics for the NFL, among others.
Toledo’s engineering powerhouse laser scans every millimeter of an NFL stadium (or NBA court, NHL rink, MLB diamond, or PGA course) to create the hyper-accurate 3D models that Hollywood special effects makers need to bring those video-game-inspired graphics to life.
In a recent interview, The Famous Group’s Greg Harvey shared his thoughts about the particular difficulties associated with making the unreal, real, for the Baltimore Ravens:
“The beauty of mixed reality is the ability of computer-generated objects to interact with the physical environment, this sells the realism. To achieve this, parts of the stadium were captured with a laser-scanning technique. We scanned where the goal post was, where the field was, the vertical boards and brought that into a computer. When the bird is actually on the uprights, its claws wrap around the crossbar and its wings appear behind the uprights.”
The Famous Group has tasked TruePoint with everything from creating a delicate 3D mesh virtual model of the “Gentle Giant” sculpture they used to create the North Carolina team’s Panther in 3D, to scanning the entirety of the 3.1 million square feet of L.A.’s SoFi Stadium for Super Bowl LVI’s amazing mixed reality effects, which featured everything from Halle Berry to a perfectly rendered L.A. Memorial Coliseum, to virtual drones delivering the Vince Lombardi Trophy to centerfield.
None of those mind-boggling, real-time fan experiences could have occurred without GPRS/ TruePoint 3D laser scans, point clouds, and 3D models. TruePoint’s Director of Laser Scanning, Ryan Hacker loves watching people’s reaction to what they do.
“My favorite thing is to sit with a client, either a new client or somebody that just hasn’t used laser scanning a lot, and just watch their jaw drop as they realize how much information they truly have at their fingertips,” he shared with the Wrapped 2020 podcast.
One of the most unexpected outcomes of GPRS’ recent acquisition of TruePoint Laser Scanning is how it brings professional football – and a host of other pro sports – to the forefront for this construction-centered business. Sr. Vice President of Customer Service & Marketing, Jason Schaff, explains why the work for pro sports differs from their usual construction-based contracts.
“Most of the work we do is completed and then we move on to the next project. These types of projects are rewarding because you can see the results of your efforts down the road implemented in such a unique way.”
GPRS & TruePoint are full of former college and professional players and football fans who consider this work a special privilege.
About Ground Penetrating Radar Systems:
GPRS, headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, visualizes the built world by providing utility locating, concrete scanning, 3D laser scanning, video pipe inspection, leak detection, and mapping & modeling services to utilities, contractors, engineering firms, and environmental consultants in every major market in the United States.
To learn more, visit https://www.gp-radar.com/.
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Related link: https://www.gp-radar.com/
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