(Video Episode COMING SOON to Youtube!)

The next generation of mapping is here! In this episode, our Rashan Senanayake sits down with design visionary Amber Standley, Co-founder and CXO of Terria, to explore the cutting edge of spatial technology and its future impact on our world. From her roots in creative design to pioneering in augmented reality and digital twins, Amber shares how her journey has led to reshaping the way we visualise data. Learn how platforms like Terria are empowering everyday users, governments, and industries to create immersive, accessible, and intelligent geospatial experiences—no coding required, open sourced! Both Amber and Rashan detail and break down complex terms like reality mesh, BIM models, and automation in digital twins, and discuss how they're revolutionising urban planning, sustainability, property management, and even education. Exploring how digital twins are evolving from visualisation tools to real-time decision-making engines, to the power of visual data in tackling climate change and community engagement for meaningful impact! Whether you're into tech, design, data, or urban innovation—this episode will change the way you see the world (literally).

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About Terria

Terria- Powering the next generation of maps & digital twins. Terria makes it easy to build advanced maps and digital twins, so you can see the bigger picture. Terria began at CSIRO and is now a trusted partner for leading organisations worldwide. Our innovative open-source framework and adaptable digital twin solutions break down barriers and unlock new opportunities for progress.

Whether you’re a professional, data explorer or developer, our flexible plans and personalised services are designed to meet your specific needs.

Learn more about Terria’s Partner Program: Click Here

Click Here to View Terria’s Map Demo

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About Speaker: Amber Standley – Click Here to Connect
Visionary Leader in Human-Centred Design & Emerging Tech

Amber Standley is a visionary leader who sits at the intersection of human-centred design, entrepreneurship, science, and emerging technology. With over two decades of experience, she has continuously pushed the boundaries of how technology can delight and improve lives. Her passion spans cutting-edge fields—from computer vision, digital twins, geospatial tech to augmented reality—all united by a common thread: putting people at the heart of innovation.

Co-Founder & CXO of Terria.io

Professionally, Amber serves as Co-Founder and Chief Experience Officer (CXO) of Terria.io—a platform that organises, connects, and transforms diverse spatial data into actionable insights through advanced mapping and digital twin technology. In this role, she leads Terria’s Product Design efforts to turn massive, complex datasets into easy-to-use digital maps and “digital twins” of real-world environments. Thanks to Amber’s human-centred vision, Terria’s platform bridges the gap between technical data and practical understanding, empowering everyone—from government and industry to local communities—to make smarter decisions. Under her experience-driven guidance, Terria has become synonymous with making geospatial information accessible and impactful.

Amber brings over 20 years of hands-on experience in human-centred design and entrepreneurship. Her career began in the trenches of graphic and motion graphics design, where she honed the ability to blend creativity with purpose. She founded and led her own company APositive early in her career (2013), delivering innovative projects using place-based augmented reality— before Pokémon Go put AR on the map. This extensive background in design, combined with an entrepreneurial drive, means Amber knows how to take an idea from a simple sketch to a fully realised product. Over the years, she has consistently focused on designing technology solutions that truly work for people, ensuring even the most advanced tools remain easy to use and deliver real-world impact.

One of Amber’s greatest strengths is her ability to bridge complex challenges with practical, user-focused solutions—particularly when translating high-tech concepts into everyday tools anyone can use. Whether it’s helping users integrate thousands of disparate data sources into a single coherent map or designing the end-to-end customer experience, Amber excels at turning complexity into clarity.

In other words, Amber ensures that sophisticated technologies (like Terria’s digital twin platform) feel straightforward—even empowering—to the non technical end user. The products and services she creates don’t just work on a technical level; they resonate with people, solve real problems, and deliver lasting impact and value. From city planners visualising infrastructure data to farmers accessing climate insights, Amber’s human-centred approach transforms technology into a tool for positive change.

Ask anyone who’s worked with Amber, and they’ll mention her blend of creativity, empathy, technical acumen, and determination. She’s not just a tech person—she’s a people person. Colleagues and industry peers often commend her ability to deeply understand users’ needs and then leverage her creative prowess to meet those needs in innovative ways. “I have seen her throw the full weight of her creative energy into projects about which she cares deeply, and the results have been truly remarkable,” one colleague notes.

Amber is equally known for her approachability; she listens as much as she leads, a trait that makes her designs and teams stronger. Industry leaders echo this —one investor called her “a master of user experience” who creates “scalable, intuitive, and best-in-class” solutions for customers. Whether it’s her imaginative flair or her knack for cutting through jargon, Amber’s balance of soft skills and technical savvy earns her respect across the board.

A turning point in Amber’s career came when she decided to pursue a master’s degree in digital design. During her graduate studies, she was introduced to programming through Processing.org, which opened up a realm of possibilities and ignited her passion for emerging technology. By chance, she met Dan Munnerly an education innovator; Dan was leading AR Studio, a research cluster focused on exploring augmented reality to enhance student learning. Over the next 18 months, Amber helped AR Studio create AR prototypes and run workshops with educators, exploring and testing opportunities in AR.

During this time, AR Studio was regularly approached by industry professionals seeking commercial AR applications. Seizing the opportunity, Amber took the plunge and founded APositive—a digital design studio dedicated to building AR applications. This was back when few people had heard the term “augmented reality,” and the iPhone 6 would run white-hot from the heavy processing demands of early AR apps. Notable projects included a first-of-its-kind AR billboard at Canberra Airport (where visitors could meet a cheetah and spot a bettong while collecting their luggage) and the Barangaroo Ngangamay app, allowing Indigenous filmmakers to embed their stories and culture in the Barangaroo landscape though location based AR.

National Arboretum:

Another project was the National Arboretum Canberra app charts users location and merged what they saw with the wild sounds native to that forest’s country of origin. Artist-designed soundscapes generate randomly, delivering a unique experience each time.
Users could also explore information on the Arboretum’s forests and features. By scanning the surrounding landscape or specially marked signs, you instantly access web content on the trees’ stories and significance. Even the Arboretum’s publications contain scannable elements for extra information.

Scaling positive impact

From there, Amber pivoted to the tech innovation space to tackle bigger and more complex problems. She worked as a human-centred designer for CSIRO’s Data61, helping scientists make their blue carbon and agriculture research more accessible and scalable. This path led her to the Terria team, where she eventually became a co-founder, designing the Terria early adopter program now relaunched as the Terria Digital Twin Partner Program as well as the user experience design for Terria’s new digital twin platform aimed at non-developers. Click Here.

Resources & Related Links

• Digital Twin 101: eBook
• Terria
• Digital Twin Partner Program
• Digital Twin Demo