Anyone who has done their research has probably already seen this, but I thought I'd post this to generate some discussion.
Here is a company from Spain who offer an extremely similar product. See the links below:
https://server.pointcloudviz.com (web client)
http://www.pointcloudviz.com/desktop/index.html (desktop client)
http://www.pointcloudviz.com/
http://www.mirage-tech.com/
They offer virtually the same as what Pointerra are proposing - a Data as a Service (DaaS) solution for visualizing massive point cloud data sets.
They offer a free desktop client to view data sets as well as having a powerful web client.
They appear to be up and running, albeit in BETA mode.
I have signed up - but still waiting to get my confirmation email.
Their pricing structure:
Users can publish a sample LiDAR dataset (pointcloud) for FREE (up to 100 million points, public access only, for a month).
They also offer a paid service with unlimited data transfers and connections, and public or private access - for a monthly fee of just $5USD per each 100 million points.
This could be a bit of a glimpse of what Pointerra may very well be like.
The main differences I can see:
-PointCloudViz make no mention of any cutting edge compression algorithms being used unlike Pointerra.
-Pointerra seem to make a focus on compression of data sets, storage in the cloud and also data management.
I must note; the PointCloudViz web server client is somewhat slow at displaying the sample data sets with all the quality settings maxed out - perhaps Pointerra's patented technology will allow for fast rendering times? Or perhaps it could just be my shitty Australian internet.
Also the PointCloudViz interface seems very minimalist - although it is still in beta mode.
It is extremely impressive however - being able to display millions of points in my browser - all in real time.
Only time will tell what Pointerra has in store for its potential clients.
