CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE TRENDS 
by 
William C. Cude 
Chief, Topographic Engineering Department 
U. S. Army Engineer 
Geodesy, Intelligence and Mapping Research and Development Agency 
Fort Belvoir, Virginia 
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am sure you shared my astonishment when Mr. Esten 
launched his speech by donning a tophat. Having recovered from the original 
shock we were then prepared for rabbits to be produced from this hat, or other 
similar surprises. 
I, of course, do not know exactly what messages he intended to convey by 
this demonstration but I feel that the act and result are quite symbolic of the 
present period. There have been so many new developments and so-called "break- 
throughs” in science, chiefly through electronics, that we are prepared for and 
expect the most incredible achievements to follow one after the other. 
As we have heard, electronic computing machines, automatic scanning 
devices and new or improved sensing equipment offer opportunities for advance- 
ment in the science of photogrammetry. In taking advantage of these oppor- 
tunities we will go through several phases. We are now just emerging from the 
original idea and exploratory phase. We are proceeding into the design and 
practical application or adaptation phase. Here the ideas will be streamlined, 
procedures will fit into the actual requirements and as experience is gained 
we will determine how to make maximum use of the ideas of the original thinkers. 
For example, let us take the electronic computing machine. What are its 
advantages? One is that repetitious computations, too time-consuming for human 
effort, can be completed in less than a second of time. A second is that 
innumerable mathematical comparisons covering or including all types of data 
can be made resulting in mathematical decisions or answers in a minimum of time. 
But does it have originality? Doesn't everything it does have to be planned or 
anticipated? Now consider the automatic scanning and sensing devices. As 
mathematical data was collected and compared in the computing machines so images 
of various objects are gathered and compared in these devices. Again decisions 
and answers can be obtained but each situation must be planned or anticipated in 
advance. As we all know there are many, many actions and reactions involved in 
photogrammetric map meking from the initial collection of images to the assembly 
vhich shows the objects in proper arrangement to scale. Each combination of 
these actions and reactions must be anticipated before complete automation is 
realized. 
During this stage of development we will probably almost work ourselves 
to death trying to eliminate or avoid human effort. Eventually we will come up 
with devices and systems which will greatly reduce the time factor, improve 
accuracy, and require a minimum of human guidance. 
Since, in this century, all activities are proceeding at an accelerated 
rate, it is only natural to predict considerable success in the practical 
application of automation to photogrammetric procedures in the not too distant 
future. The rate of progress will depend on current events and economy. Each 
Six months will show some advancement. However, much remains to be accomplished 
and, therefore, the transition from human effort to automatic machine will be 
Spread through a number of years.