Where is photogrammetry heading to? State of the art and trends

The objective of this paper is to highlight current trends in photogrammetry, trying to foresee where they will lead the discipline in the next years. To this aim, first some remarks on the challenges brought to photogrammetry by other sensors and a brief historical survey of some research topics, where an increasing convergence between photogrammetry and computer vision is apparent, will be presented. Then, a necessarily concise review of the advances in automation in three basic photogrammetric tasks (namely image orientation, surface reconstruction and object restitution) will be illustrated. The purpose of the review is to highlight how the fruitful dialog between photogrammetry and computer vision led to today’s achievements and to point out what kind of approaches seem to be winning in the search for viable and robust solutions in the automation of processes. Finally, the conclusions will look at this convergence in the perspective of academic career.