Visual Learning Systems- Feature Analyst 3.1 Professional Takes Change Detection to an Unprecedented Level

MISSOULA, Montana – Finally, a break through technology emerges in the arena of change detection to support the GIS industry. Feature Analyst Professional, developed by Visual Learning Systems, Inc. (VLS) http://www.vls-inc.com/ of Missoula, Montana, now allows GIS and image analysts to identify and extract object-specific changes in high-resolution digital imagery.

The award winning software, selected by ESRI in 2002 as the Most Innovative Solution extension for ArcGIS, further leverages the latest advancements in machine learning and image fusion research for earth imagery. The result is a change detection solution that allows analysts to visualize the presence or absence of objects over time and then extract only those specific features such as new streets or houses.

Detecting and mapping change quickly and accurately is vital to many different organizations that use GIS for planning and spatial analysis. Solving this problem has proven to be both difficult and expensive. Current automated methods of change detection extract all differences between images including changes of season, registration errors, etc. The overwhelming amount of clutter associated with these methods, does not allow an analyst to understand the significance of changes associated with individual features.

Feature Analyst, on the other hand, is able to detect change in individual features without extracting clutter. For example, if analysts would like to map the changes in rural road networks, they can do so without concerning themselves with the other changes in the area’s vegetation, or hydrology. The benefits of this approach are enormous in terms of cost savings for GIS database maintenance using high-resolution imagery.

This ability to focus only on the specific information important to the analyst, coupled with Feature Analyst’s noted speed and accuracy, provides real cost savings for analysts working on all different types of change-related projects. Updating river/stream data and flood plain mapping, post forest fire burn mapping, land management, updating and maintaining city development records, even analysis of GIS data after disasters is finally easy and cost effective.

“Feature Analyst has once again established a new paradigm in the GIS industry,” states Director of Sales Kevin Opitz. “Our customers demanded a new approach to an old problem and we have delivered. The benefits of object-specific change detection include reduced labor costs for GIS data maintenance and enhanced value for organizations investing in high-resolution imagery.”

Evaluation copies of Feature Analyst Professional are available @ http://www.featureanalyst.com.

CONTACT:

Kevin Opitz, VLS,

(406) 829-1384

[email protected]