Pictometry Awarded U.S. Patent for Pitched Surface Measurement Technology

Pictometry International Corp. has been awarded a foundational United States patent for its technology and systems used to accurately calculate the area of vertical and pitched surfaces from oblique aerial photography.

Patent No. 8,233,666—granted on July 31—has implications for the roof measurement services industry, which is utilized by insurers, independent adjusters, contractors, and homeowners to quickly obtain precise details about rooftop surface areas.

Pictometry's roof measurement reports provide easy, on-demand access to professionally-created profiles that can be requested for nearly any property from a smartphone or computer. Each includes precise measurements of the roof presented with high-resolution oblique aerial images, line drawings and multiple tables of results. 

"This is our tenth U.S. patent for inventions surrounding oblique image capture, processing, and use, reflecting Pictometry's continued industry innovation," said Richard M. Hurwitz, CEO of Pictometry. "Our customers have come to expect and rely on Pictometry's intellectual property leadership stretching back to the earliest days of the company. That now includes measuring areas of roof facets and walls, in addition to image capture, oblique image database storage and retrieval; and obtaining accurate measurements of distance, height, elevation and area. These are the key foundational elements upon which we've created and grown an entire industry."

Unlike traditional top down aerial and satellite photography, Pictometry's high-resolution oblique images show each side of every structure, roadway and outdoor object, with views from all four cardinal directions. Since each pixel is individually geo-referenced, users can measure height, distance, altitude, and surface area directly on the images in real-time.

For additional information, please visit www.pictometry.com.