I was part of the initial executive leadership team that architected not only the technology but the company of Urthecast. We placed high importance on intuitive interfaces and sleek software - products that are bringing earth observation to first time consumers, and more value to existing satellite imagery customers. We were young and brash and ready to rebel against the old ways of doing things.

A New Kind of Earth Observation

We wanted to build technology that would unlock Earth imagery and video at multiple resolutions to help solve your complex problems. The big problem was telling the story in such a way that was powerful and evocative. So, I proposed that we put the story telling to work in the form of a marketing video call "Perspectives"

I enlisted many friends, colleagues, researchers, and celebrities to help tell story of "What if?".  What if you had imagery that discovered a long lost civilization, or a living untouched tribe in the Amazon? What if you could understand how many trees were being cut down every day, and do something about it? What if you could better understand our climate, so we can better feed and provide for our planet now, and for generations to come? What if that oil price seemed unusually high based on observable inventory? What if we have near-real time evidence of humanitarian issues on a border no one used to care about until today? Technology should be able to unlock these and many more questions as we become better stewards of our planet and each other.

First Light Images No Longer Boring

Just prior to scripting and producing The "Perspectives" video for marketing the company ethos, Urthecast had just began to operationalize its data from Space. From London to Benghazi, and beyond — UrtheCast's medium-resolution camera onboard the International Space Station captured simply stunning imagery at a resolution of five meters. Those first images, or "First Light" images, were ready for prime time. I chose to create a first light video reel that was choreographed and set to inspirational music to further set the tone that the Urthecast brand and offering was new and provided a fresh approach to a rather stale and uninspiring geospatial industry.

Have a look and listen and be reminded that innovation is nuanced and so are the human responses to that innovation.