Bluesky 3D Imagery Brings Global Warming Sea Level Rises to Life

Leicestershire, UK, 06 September 2023 – Immersive story telling company Sairo has used high resolution aerial photography and 3D mapping from UK aerial survey and mapping company Bluesky International to illustrate the impact of global warming on rising sea levels.  

 Working with Lancaster and Morecambe College, Sairo Studios, a creative agency specialising in content for AR, VR and Metaverse, has produced an educational film, ‘Rising Tides Climate Change in Morecambe Bay’, which demonstrates the effect of predicted sea level rises from different perspectives. The 360-degree video is being shown in the College’s immersive Igloo theatre.   

 “We worked with Lancaster and Morecambe College to create a localised education piece exploring the impact of climate change,” commented James Ascroft, co-founder and CEO of Sairo Studios. “We utilised large-scale photogrammetry models from Bluesky, which we imported into Unreal Engine to design and build weather simulations. This was then exported as a 360 video the students could immerse themselves in.”  

 The Bluesky data package used by Sairo to create the Rising Tides output included high-resolution, 5cm map accurate aerial photography covering the whole of Morecambe, including the famous Stone Jetty. Bluesky also supplied highly detailed LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging captured by aircraft mounted lasers) data to provide geographically accurate 3D terrain data. The Bluesky data was complemented with drone imagery captured by Christians Survey and Inspection Solutions and terrestrial scans of smaller objects.   

 Ralph Coleman, Chief Commercial Officer at Bluesky, said, “Geospatial solutions are a valuable tool in the fight against climate change. Our geospatial datasets provide accurate visual indicators of the situation, past and present, helping us to see patterns for the future. It helps inform decisions, shape policy and, importantly, affect change. Projects like this video from Sairo, provide credible predictions on the devastation that we could be facing, and this will help us make change now and work to reduce the future impact of issues like flooding.” 

 In order to create the most photorealistic output, Sairo used the gaming engine Unreal to render the source data. Plug-ins were required to simulate the desired output in terms of water (rising tide levels and flood water), green infrastructure, specifically trees, and the 360-degree experience. Sairo also applied the Scan Cloud platform to increase its computational power required to render the experience.  

 Rather than just a simulated digital environment demonstrating water level rises, the Sairo team also worked with TAB Music to score the track, Joshua Haworth who contributed Foley (everyday) sound effects and Jon Carter from the RSPB who narrated the film. The 360-degree video has already been viewed by hundreds of students in the North West region as well as local stakeholders and businesses. 

 Sairo Studios is a leading creative agency specialising in immersive technologies. It focuses on creating immersive content in innovative ways, helping to build bridges between businesses and the new the digital realities in which they exist within Web 3.0. Sairo has worked with the Department for Education and the Home Office as well as Ribble Valley Borough Council, Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery and the Prince’s Trust.  

 About Bluesky 

 Bluesky International is the leading aerial survey and geographic data company in the UK producing and maintaining seamless digital aerial photography and height data on a national scale in both Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. Bluesky also undertakes bespoke surveys, including LiDAR, for a range of public and private sector clients.  

 Bluesky International operates a range of aircraft and sensors including three Ultracam Eagle Mark 3s and two CityMappers which allow the simultaneous collection of vertical and oblique imagery, as well as LiDAR data, and a Galaxy LiDAR which is mounted with a thermal sensor and survey grade camera. These systems put Bluesky International in the enviable position of being able to provide customers with unique and cost-effective geospatial solutions.  

 As well as being an established and respected aerial survey company Bluesky International is also highly innovative and continually strives to develop new products and services by embracing new technology and methods. This has resulted in the development of some unique products such as the National Tree Map (NTM).  

 These datasets underpin long term contracts with local and central governments and many major blue-chip companies from a range of market sectors including financial services, utilities, telecoms, web portals, construction and environment.  Bluesky International has offices in the UK, US, Republic of Ireland and a dedicated production centre in India.  

 https://www.bluesky-world.com/