The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on July 29 announced its planned development of Geo-AI (geospatial artificial intelligence), an AI application based on spatial information, and launch of the relevant research and development from August for the technology's commercial use. Shown is a brochure for Geo-AI in English. (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

By Kim Seon Ah

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on July 29 announced its completion of basic technology development for Geo-AI (geospatial artificial intelligence) based on spatial information, and said related research and development will start from August for the technology's commercialization.

Geo-AI is a technology that offers optimum responses based on analysis of spatial and temporal factors such as maps, buildings and transportation. It differs from chatbot AI types in three ways: visualization response technology based on three-dimensional maps; capacity to comprehend and deduce from spatial context; and integration and use of diverse spatial data.

Usable anytime and anywhere through smart devices or navigation systems, Geo-AI is applicable to a range of sectors like real estate, safety and self-driving.

For instance, users can easily look for suitable residential areas and workers at construction sites can use Geo-AI-powered smartglasses to identify the location of underground facilities in real time by simply using voice commands. Using the technology with autonomous mobile robots can determine the most efficient routes based on traffic conditions and obstacles.

To speed up Geo-AI's commercial use, the ministry will run pilot operations of the results of the application's technologies developed thus far such as natural language searches and map visualization on the national spatial data portal V-World.

sofiakim218@korea.kr