Tue 1 Jul 2008
Microsoft and the University of Washington are currently working on a interesting new technology called Photosynth.
Photosynth can take a large number of photos of a single place or object, analyse them, and then display them in a reconstructed three dimensional space. What this means is you can move through a scene, going where you want to go, and seeing photo’s from each view point as if you where actually there.
So how does this work? Each photo is processed to extract hundreds of distinctive features; photos that share features are linked together, and then when the same feature is found in multiply images then its 3D position can be calculated.
Another cool feature of Photosynth is its smooth digital rendering and zoom capabilities, which makes you feel like you’re really there and just moving closer to the object.
There are currently seven Photosynth collections you can view on the Photosynth Tech preview site including: the space shuttle Endeavour, the Ely Cathedral, and Piazza San Marco in Venice.
According to the Photosynth site in a future version you’ll be able to display your own photographs in a 3D space and even combine the photos you’ve taken with others who have taken photos of the same thing creating an even better 3D space.
To learn more about Photosynth or to experience one of the Photosyth collections click here.
Note: To use Photosynth you must have Windows XP SP2 or later, or Vista RC1 or later and be using Internet Explorer 6 or 7, or Firefox 1.5 or 2.