The aerial surveying software, combining camera technology with GPS ground points, is already being installed and sold in small drone-type aircraft manufactured in the North Island, which separately sell for around $25,000.
Privately-owned Areo, which has spent more than $2 million on research and development during the past six years, has had several incarnations over the years, including computer gaming, camera technology and developing variants of the 2D to 3D software.
Chief executive Hayden Cawte was contacted and said the launch of the surveying Areohawk software was going ahead next week.
Customers will be able to purchase the aerial surveying software to use themselves, instead of processing being done by Areo staff in Dunedin.
"We've done close to thousands of [processing] jobs up until now," he said of the Areo staff who can number up to 20 at times.
He said Areo's head of research and development had been working round the clock to get AreoHawk to completion.
The miniature drone or Hawkeye UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles), which is a separate development and company to Areo, have a wingspan of up to 3m and a 90-minute flight time with multiple applications, Mr Cawte said.
The Areo camera technology captures 2D images, including the actual colours on the ground.
That information is transferred to a navigable 3D image on screen in a "point cloud", or thousands of pixels.
An example of use would be for the UAV to do a monthly fly-over of an open-pit mine site, then later compare imagery on changes after ore extraction, check design progress or for safety checks.
Mr Cawte said Areo had been working closely with the University of Otago and Dunedin-based Animation Research Ltd on several projects and was forming close ties with both, in technology and staff.
"We're dedicated to being in Dunedin and encouraging close relations with local businesses, along with ARL and the university," he said.
The "core technology" remains creating a digital model by collation of thousands of photographs. A new version called AreoScan 1.0 software, for a "terrestrial scanning" package to be released in coming months, is specific to capturing buildings or even cars.
Mr Cawte said funding from private investors had kept the company going.
While computer gaming had not been the hoped-for financial success, he believed Areo's latest developments would see a financial return to shareholders.
In mid-2011, Areo won a World Summit award, its second in three years, for its 3D modelling software, one of five winners in two categories contested by 460 projects from more than 100 countries.
When still in start-up mode as a computer game company, Areo in early 2009 won an international award with the first episode of its Casebook crime title.
Staff and users of the Adventuregamers.com website - the largest adventure gaming site on the internet - voted Casebook Episode I: Kidnapped the Best Independent Adventure Game of 2008.
The first episode was released by Clocktower Games Ltd before the company merged with an associated research and development company Areo Ltd, which then rebranded to Areo.
In late 2009 Areo was in talks with Italian-based defence giant Finmeccanica and other defence organisations about converting Areograph's camera technology for military use.
Mr Cawte said talks had not gone any further forward since then.
There is still an Areo division providing software as a premium service to clients with a dedicated project manager.
