There is good news to report concerning the recently approved ASTM E57 3D imaging data exchange standard. First the actual standard itself will soon be available from ASTM the American Society of Testing Materials. I believe the standard is No. E2807, but check the website to be be sure.
Just as importantly, I am pleased to report that a number of major vendors including Intelisum, Trimble, Leica, Optech, Faro and Pointools have all confirmed that they are in the process of implementing support for E57. For those interested in learning more about the reference implementations being supported by the E57.04 subcommittee please see our support site.
In addition, both the GSA and Fiatech are considering adopting the use of E57 as the required data deliverable format. This will certainly be a major step forward for the industry.
I will be making a presentation at SPAR on the standard. We are recruiting new members for the subcommittee who have the time to work on this important project. Please drop me a line if you are interested, and pass the word that you want your vendors to support E57.
