The Long Drive

Topcon Positioning Systems’ president and CEO Ray O’Connor talks to Gavin Schrock, Editor at xyHt Magazine, about automation, integrated solutions, smart phones, golf, and the coming era of continuous representation of reality. xyHt: You first joined Topcon in 1993. Did you imagine such rapid growth? Were there areas that you imagined that should have grown faster? Ray O’Connor: I didn’t think it would take 20 years to get this far in the automation of the construction and agriculture industries. It’s been the driving vision for the company for a long time. The two largest manufacturing industries in the world are construction and agriculture—anywhere from 7 to 10 trillion dollars worldwide—yet they are two of the least-automated industries. It was