AWS Spatial Computing Blog

Visual Asset Management System 2.0 Release

AWS Spatial Computing is excited to announce the release of the Visual Asset Management System (VAMS) 2.0, a significant update to the open-source solution designed to streamline the way organizations manage spatial computing data. This release helps enterprises across various industries with the challenges posed by the increasing complexity and volume of 3D data, computer-aided drafting (CAD) files, and other spatial computing workloads. VAMS 2.0 introduces a range of features and enhancements focused on securely storing, transforming, and viewing 2D and 3D spatial computing assets.

 

An architecture diagram outlining how the Visual Asset Management System is architectedFigure 1: VAMS 2.0 multi-configuration architecture design

 

Security is always a primary focus and this release includes a security controls overhaul that allows implementers to deploy VAMS across AWS partitions, including the highly secure AWS GovCloud environment. Users now have greater control over AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF), FIPS, AWS Lambdas in VPCs, and Docker SSL proxy configurations, ensuring that their visual asset management infrastructure adheres to the strictest security standards.

Another significant security enhancement is the introduction of a new access control system, which replaces the previous Amazon Cognito group-based access control with a powerful attribute-based access control (ABAC) and role-based access control (RBAC) system. This new system provides fine-grained access control to various VAMS resources, enabling organizations to implement robust and granular security measures tailored to their specific requirements.

The configuration system has also undergone a significant transformation, with the introduction of a new AWS CDK configuration system utilizing config.json and cdk.json files, as well as splitting the CDK constructs into multiple nested stacks.
These changes allow the user to toggle services such as Amazon OpenSearch and Amazon Location Services on or off, manage their VPC/subnet, encrypt their AWS Key Management Service (KMS), and the ability to choose Application Load Balancer (ALB) static websites in place of Amazon CloudFront.

 

An asset view within the VAMS user interface of a point cloud rendering of industrial machineryFigure 2: Point cloud viewer GIF of a sample E57 lidar file using VAMS 2.0

The VAMS 2.0 release introduces a range of other notable features, including asset tagging and linking, image and point cloud viewers, an upgraded file manager, and a new email subscription system that allows users to receive notifications when new file versions are uploaded. Additionally, the team has addressed various performance and bug fixes, ensuring a more stable and efficient VAMS experience.

With the release of VAMS 2.0, the team has demonstrated its unwavering commitment to providing organizations with a powerful and flexible platform for managing and distributing their visual assets in the cloud. By leveraging the extensive capabilities of AWS, VAMS empowers businesses to tackle the most complex spatial computing challenges, driving innovation and productivity across a wide range of industries.

The VAMS 2.0 open-source repository can be found here.