Tim Wang's eLearning Blog

With competitions on the right, left and center (Google, Adobe and Apple), Microsoft is coming out with “cool” tools to strike back. I have to say, the Microsoft Photosynth is a really cool tool. It is a new technology that analyzes a large collection of photos for their similarities. The analysis allows the software to “map” the photos precisely onto a 3D object that is created in resemble of the real object / architecture in the photos. Then viewing these photos is like a true 3D “walk through” experience. It's similar to Panorama effects but much much much more advanced.

What can you do with this tool? Here are some ideas from the developers at Microsoft Live Labs:

- Walk or fly through a scene to see photos from any angle.
- Seamlessly zoom in or out of a photo whether it's megapixels or gigapixels in size.
- See where pictures were taken in relation to one another.
- Find similar photos to the one you're currently viewing.
- Send a collection - or a particular view of one - to a friend.

This tool reminds me of an interesting application that was born in UBC a few years ago: Autostitch™.