The tool is being used extensively now as a “technical preview” through Autodesk Labs. This is a first step to see if customers feel that the product is ready. The overwhelming response, and the number of projects that are taking advantage of this technology already, indicate that customers want to see it as a product. Autodesk didn’t offer a specific time frame for release other than soon.

The tool brings together geospatial data sets for visualization, and allows you to extrude buildings or model LiDAR data for the quick modeling of city-scale geographies. Tools within the product let you polish the model, with the ability to add building facades and add in other infrastructure elements such as roads or pipes through the application of standard or customized templates.

The Project Galileo tool allows users to see the city in a realistic way, and test different design scenarios within context. Included in the tool are means to walk or drive through the model, and even to step inside a building to see what the views are like to the outside.

This level of modeling, coupled with easy integration to Autodesk’s Map3D and Civil3D products provide a good level of integration for seamless visualization at multiple levels of detail across different scales. Project Galileo provides a regional scale modeling, Map3D provides modeling at large project scales, and Civil3D gets into the detail of the model.

With this new approach, and integrated toolset, Autodesk provides a compelling new approach to infrastructure planning and design.