Vincent Tao

Dr. Vincent Tao is Senior Director with Microsoft Virtual Earth and Local/Mobile Search business unit, responsible for technology strategies and international business development. Vincent joined Microsoft through the GeoTango acquisition, a 3D on-line mapping company founded by Vincent in 2002. GeoTango pioneered one of the first commercial systems, GlobeView, for on-line 3D earth visualization and exploration and developed a unique software tool, SilverEye, for single-image based 3D modeling. Prior to his entrepreneur venture, Vincent held eminent Canada Research Chair Professor position in Geospatial Information and Communication Research at York University, Toronto. Vincent was recognized by his PhD research (1995) in automated processing of street mapping images. In 1997, he co-developed the world’s first airborne integrated laser imaging system for 3D urban mapping. In 1998, he developed the vector-based web mapping technology and licensed it to a private company. Since then, Vincent has been developing 3D mapping and sensing technologies for Web and mobile. He has transferred a dozen of his technology inventions to the private firms and government agencies before he started his own company. Vincent has authored over 200 technical papers, a number of book chapters and technical patents. He is a frequent speaker in many international conferences and media reports. He is honored with numerous awards and distinctions for his work in web mapping, 3D visualization, photogrammetric and sensor networks. Vincent holds adjunct professor positions at four universities and executive positions in several organizations. He is married with two daughters.

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