Microsoft Photosynth

So, Darren got us started talking about these ultra-cool new technologies. Today I continue this theme with another Microsoft project, this one demoed at the TED conference in March.

Microsoft Photosynth is a new virtual modeling technique that creates a type of metaverse built completely on social data. The way it works basically is it can (for example) scrape all images of Notre Dame from flickr, and using these thousands of pictures and analyzing their relationships relative to space, it can build a 3D model of that structure or area.

The Photosynth Demo video explains this better than I can. “The Photosynth Experience” begins at around 2:47 into the video; however, then entire clip is very interesting. More videos about the project can also be found on Google Video.

5 thoughts on “Microsoft Photosynth

  1. It seems like we are giving Microsoft a lot of free advertising recently. What is happening to my fellow EduGeeks?

    Just kidding. We do need stuff like this and the Microsoft Surface thing. They can be used for great stuff in the future. The really near future, probably….

  2. Very cool! That should be a lot of fun to play with. Clever of them to draw upon sources like Flickr; it would be hard to come up with all of the necessary photo angles on your own.

    About a month ago, I saw something similar that uses information from a single photograph to (sort of) create a 3D rendering. Here is the website, with video: http://fotowoosh.com/index.html

  3. That was pretty amazing. I wish it were possible to link ‘collective memory’ for other concepts/subjects and demonstrate it for students. What a way to get an education.

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