Bentley has just purchased the “Pointools” company, hoping to add their 3D scanner expertise to their existing portfolio and add it to their existing model and GIS viewing information.

Bentley CEO Greg Bentley told conference attendees the Pointools acquisition was a strategic move that will allow the company to make point cloud data “a fundamental technology.” In a preview of what Bentley intends to offer users, massive point cloud data was shown streaming in an ‘on-demand’ fashion into a Navigator view, running on a separate thread from other project data. “No more carrying big hard drives or clogging networks,” Singh said of how Bentley will integrate point cloud data into project workflow. “As point clouds become a fundamental part of your information modeling, it becomes more integrated and useful.”

via GraphicSpeak » Bentley acquires Pointools, vows to make point clouds ‘a fundamental data type’.