Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Photosynth - New Way of Looking at Pictures


Photography has come a long as technology has advanced, and now with relatively inexpensive digital cameras and processors, something as powerful as Photosynth is born and is now accessible for even consumers. Developed in 2006, Microsoft showed off a tech preview of the software that allowed users to view generated models developed by Microsoft. Now as of August 20, 2008, the software is officially released to the public allowing users to generate their own Photosynth models.


Photosynth is a recent development by Microsoft, it is a program that allows users to view their images in a 3D model, giving way for revolutionary way at storing, viewing and sharing pictures. A matching algorithm developed by Microsoft, is a process that identifies specific features in a photo for example a certain part of the building, and compares it with other similar pictures containing that specific feature.


With the data, a process called Bundle Adjustment analyzes the subtle angle, lighting, and distance differences to be able to figure out spatially in a 3D environment where it belongs relative to the other pictures. The algorithm can then match the pictures together and display them in their respective location in 3D.


Using Seadragon technology, the Photosynth viewer allows users to zoom into pictures smoothly without it being downloaded to the client’s computer. It also allows for changing pictures smoothly between nearby photos and even walk and fly through a scene for a seamless experience.


This inspiring technology allows people from all around the world to combine and share pictures of the same area in a very novel way never though of before and it allows the images to be uploaded into a virtual world.


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