Albuquerque-based technology company Transparent Sky has built a first-of-its-kind 3-D mapping company so people can see the world and all of its needs around them. It now has two new versions of its “WAMICam,” which is drone footage that can cover a maximum of about seven square kilometers (for the small version) and up to about 30 square kilometers (for the larger version).
In a press release, the company says the Air Force is one of its first customers and has purchased a WAMI sensor for use in upcoming military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. But it might also help governments surveil natural disasters and climate change.
In 2010, Steven Suddarth and his wife Deborah founded Transparent Sky, which has roughly a dozen employees with an office in Albuquerque plus a hangar facility in Edgewood.
“As the only company with live 3D, we anticipate an endless number of use cases to transform the ISR industry and we look forward to being the primary proprietors of this revolutionary sensor across the sector,” said Suddarth.
Transparent Sky’s sensors are designed to be used by the Armed Forces; federal, state, and local entities for tasks like disaster relief, border security, coastline and port security, traffic monitoring, large-event crowd control, as well as natural motion studies. For example, soldiers can use real-time situational awareness to see imminent danger, or a city planner can use the system to track traffic patterns.
According to Transparent Sky, traditional WAMI systems cost millions of dollars to build, deploy, and operate and that’s an area they see they can provide the same service at just a fraction of the cost.