i really wish i were still in touch with my homies at @leica_camera from back in my survey days. i keep thinking about their CityMapper software and general operator interface and how much better it could be now if they rebuilt it ai-first. if you only knew how clunky data collection systems were (at least back in 2017-2020ish), your mind would be blown. like the systems used to collect and process google maps-like data felt like dinosaur tools. even back in 2017, it felt ancient for 2017, if that makes sense. you might think or assume that creating that kind of tech, and collecting that kind of data, would involve state of the art systems and all kinds of futuristic gadgets. and in terms of the hardware, thats absolutely true. the Leica sensors i operated back then were ~$1.2M a pop. 😅 but the software? oi...sh*t felt like something straight out of 1997. Leica's were better than others, like Midas, for example. but even theirs felt so behind the curve. the survey industry in general is probably a decently untapped market since the onset of ai, to be honest. i think about that a lot, and really wish i were still in touch with more folks in that world. there's likely so much money to be made, and a ton of low hanging fruit. flight planning is another *huge* opportunity. im sure that theres been huge advances since ive touched a flight plan. for sure. but thinking about how aggressively outdated flight planning software was back then, i would be extremely surprised if the systems used today are anywhere near SOTA. its tricky with anything involving flight though, as the human must always be the final gate for all things related to the mission. but i would rather be reviewing and auditing my agent's flight plan than drawing it myself from scratch, then auditing my own work 5-10 hours later. i do not miss that one bit. lol