In 2025, something remarkable happened: NavVis technology was used to capture more than one billion square meters of the built world – the equivalent of tens of thousands of buildings, factories, campuses, and city blocks.
That number isn’t just a milestone. It represents a shared effort to make the world’s spaces measurable, understandable, and ready for better decisions.
And behind every one of these square meters is a story.
A factory line reconfigured without stopping production. A hospital wing documented before renovation. A construction site verified before concrete is poured.
Each scan is part of a larger shift toward working with more clarity, less risk, and better alignment. All of us at NavVis are proud to support work like this.
But this achievement belongs above all to the people using our technology in the field – the surveyors, engineers, builders, and operators who capture reality every day. Their trust and expertise give meaning to every point within this billion (and counting) square meters.
From Scan to System
Many of our earliest adopters have been with us for years. They’ve shaped how our technology works in real-world conditions and proven what’s possible with it.
Together, we’ve built NavVis into an end-to-end platform that connects advanced mobile mapping systems with powerful cloud software:
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NavVis LX-Series – including NavVis VLX and NavVis MLX – lets teams document spaces with survey-grade accuracy and minimal disruption.
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NavVis IVION transforms raw scan data into a shared, explorable environment where teams can navigate, coordinate, and collaborate – all from a browser.
For some customers, it begins with a single building. For others, it’s a portfolio of factories, infrastructure assets, or entire plants. But what unites them is this: every scan becomes more than a file on a hard drive. It becomes a durable resource that others can return to and rely on over time.
In Surveying: Raising the Standard
Surveyors are often the first professionals on site, and everything that follows depends on the quality of their work. In this field, NavVis LX-Series Scanners and NavVis IVION haven’t replaced traditional methods – they expanded what’s possible, both in the field and back at the office.
In Jacksonville, Florida, England-Thims & Miller (ETM) used NavVis VLX to scan a complex stadium in under 25 days – less than half the time required by tripod-based workflows. Once captured, the dataset was uploaded to NavVis IVION and shared with more than 70 collaborators. Engineers, venue staff, and project stakeholders could all explore the model remotely, verify details, and move decisions forward without repeated site visits.
On the West Coast, Denn Engineers in California ran a side-by-side evaluation of mobile scanning versus traditional topographic methods. The time savings were significant, especially in areas with limited visibility and complex geometry. But the biggest change was how their clients worked with the data. Instead of relying on printed plans or constant clarifications, stakeholders simply opened a link to NavVis IVION and navigated the site virtually. As one surveyor put it:
“Before, our clients needed tape measures. Now, they just open a link.”
The common thread in these stories is reliability – but also accessibility. Surveyors are delivering precise, defensible data that anyone on the project can use without friction.
In AECO: From Verification to Coordination
In construction and renovation, a reliable scan is not just a snapshot. It’s the starting point for everything that follows.
Across the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations) space, we’re seeing reality capture move from occasional verification to continuous coordination. Firms are using up-to-date spatial data to validate field conditions, support design decisions, and reduce costly errors before they happen.
Their evolving needs have shaped our own roadmap – from improving accuracy in complex environments to building tools in NavVis IVION that make collaboration faster and more intuitive.
One example: STRABAG, one of Europe’s largest construction technology groups. STRABAG uses NavVis VLX and NavVis IVION to document complex civil infrastructure projects with millimeter precision. What used to take a full working day on site can now be done in around two hours per location. Engineers and project managers then access detailed 3D data in NavVis IVION for claim management, coordination, and documentation. The outcome: fewer closures, faster handovers, and clearer communication across teams.
More and more firms are working this way. They start with verified conditions. They plan and build from a shared source of truth. And they see measurable returns in coordination, time, and cost.
In Enterprise: Scaling Spatial Understanding
In global enterprises, the hardest problems aren’t only spatial – they’re organizational. Teams are spread across continents. Portfolios span dozens or hundreds of sites. Decisions need to be made quickly, often without the luxury of sending people on yet another site visit.
At BMW, NavVis technology has been used to 3D scan all 12 vehicle plants, capturing every detail with high precision. These scans form a digital foundation for BMW’s Virtual Factory and iFactory initiatives – environments where production processes can be simulated, optimized, and refined long before physical changes are made on the shop floor.
At Intertek, NavVis VLX data supports inspection, planning, and maintenance workflows across complex oil and gas facilities. Instead of traveling between far-flung sites or relying on static reports, engineers review rich 3D datasets together in their preferred visualization tools. They reduce travel, accelerate reviews, and improve shared understanding across teams and disciplines.
In both cases, the value is shared digital visibility. When spatial data is accurate, current, and available to everyone who needs it, organizations can move faster without sacrificing alignment.
From Munich, With You
Behind every scan and dataset is a NavVis team working to make the next project easier than the last – from Munich to Boston, Shanghai, and beyond.
Our engineers continually refine algorithms for greater accuracy and reliability. Recent advancements like Hide Overlap, Orthophotos, and 360° Capture are already helping customers get cleaner data, faster workflows, and simpler collaboration. And with the upcoming Cross Dataset Alignment feature, we’re taking another step toward automating one of the most complex challenges in large-scale scanning: consistent alignment across multiple captures.
Our operations teams make sure that every device leaving our labs is ready for the field. Our customer success specialists and partners guide users through their most demanding projects and help them realize the full value of their spatial data.
This global network of people and expertise is what enables NavVis to deliver innovation at scale – from the smallest detail in a single scan to the billionth square meter captured.
What’s Next
If you’re already using NavVis, thank you. You’ve helped define how this technology fits into daily work – and how it makes that work easier, faster, and more reliable.
And while this year’s milestone highlights one billion square meters captured in 2025, the total since we began in 2013 is already more than two billion. The story is still unfolding.
We’ll keep learning from every project, keep improving the tools you rely on, and keep building what hasn’t been built before. Because every scan you capture doesn’t just record reality – it helps shape what comes next, and it reminds us why precision, practical impact, and customer focus will always guide what we do.