An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is flying around York University  this week as part of an experiment designed to develop 3D technology that will provide a detailed picture of what’s happening in any city – whether it’s a concert or a crime, a traffic jam or the creative route a driver takes to avoid it.  “Mapping of urban environments is typically done from aircraft flying high above the city, or vehicles on the ground (i.e. Google Streetview).  But a lot of the important details lie somewhere in between,” says James Elder, a professor in both the Department of Computer Science & Engineering and the Department of Psychology at York University. “This vehicle – the Aeryon Scout – can acquire the high-resolution imagery of building facades required to reconstruct the detailed 3D structure of our cities.”