Webware

A Photosynth view of the CNN Center in Atlanta, Ga., retrieved with Microsoft's Live Search Maps.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft now lets people using its Live Search Maps service get a more immersive view by integrating the company's Photosynth panoramic viewer technology.

Photosynth stitches multiple images together into a 3D view, and people can in effect gaze around from a virtual vantage point. Areas with Photosynth views can be shown in the "explore collections" view of a map that also lets people see photos and other additions to a map.

I found the feature easy to use--even the Photosynth installation that had given me some headaches when I tried it during its early days. I still don't like the vast swath of empty green wasted space that could have been used to make the imagery even more immersive, though, and so far there aren't a huge number of places with Photosynth photos.

For full instructions on how to use Photosynth on Microsoft's maps, check the Virtual Earth evangelist's blog from Microsoft.

In addition, Microsoft said Wednesday it added 47 terabytes of new aerial imagery on Wednesday showing new views of Spain, Japan, Canada, the United States, Australia, and assorted European countries, according to the Virtual Earth blog.

Photosynth, a technology demo from Microsoft Live Labs, has graduated from its "ooh, that's pretty" status to being a viable Web service for consumers.

The technology, which takes a grouping of photographs and stitches them into a faux 3D environment, can now be implemented with photos you've taken on your digital camera or mobile phone, and converted right on your computer. Previously, the process of stitching these photos together took weeks of processing on specially configured server arrays. With its latest version, Microsoft has managed to shrink that into around the time it takes to upload your photos.

Microsoft is giving users 20GB of online storage for their Photosynth collections. Photosynth product manager Joshua Edwards tells me this can easily fit 60 or more "synths" made up of around 150 to 200 photographs apiece--the higher end of what's recommended for what Edwards calls an optimum or "synthy" experience. Users who are making really neat collections will be granted additional space.

I spent the past few days building my own Photosynths and finally managed to get the knack for how to shoot correctly by the third one. While Microsoft has largely pushed it as a way to build jaw-dropping 3D-like environments, I'd argue to say it's a far simpler way to take super detailed shots of a wall or single room without breaking the bank on a high megapixel SLR. That said, Photosynth will take any resolution of photos you throw at it.

This synth I created uses close to 300 photos, although you can make ones with many less. Part of the creation process involves learning how to take photos for it to recognize how objects relate to one another.

(Credit: CNET Networks/Josh Lowensohn)

One of the most impressive parts of Photosynth is how damn fast it is. Over a decent broadband connection you'll immediately see large thumbnails that quickly begin to sharpen as data fills in the missing pixels. You can continue to zoom into these areas and they'll sharpen up even more on some of the super high-resolution shots.

The streaming and rendering technology behind Photosynth is Seadragon, another project from the Microsoft Live Labs universe. Users have always had to download a special Seadragon-based plug-in to view other people's synths. The new twist with the latest plug-in now comes with a desktop uploader that can be used to add your own collection to the Photosynth universe. This runs with complete autonomy from your browser, so you don't have to worry about it stopping if you close out your browser. It also works in both IE 7 and Firefox 3, making it cross-platform--at least for Microsoft. If you're a Mac user looking to get your hands on some Photosynth action you'll have to keep waiting. The focus on Photosynth will remain on the PC for the time being.

One thing that's missing from this version of Photosynth is a way to synth pre-existing photo collections, or sets of photos taken from community sites. This is the most useful for things like common landmarks, and is clearly something that can be done with the right photo database--something we saw in that really nifty video from Siggraph last week. In the case of Photosynth, once you've uploaded a batch of photos you can't simply upload more to it later. Gary Flake, who heads up Microsoft's Live Labs, says this is something that's coming later on down the road. For now, you'll just have to plan ahead.

Note: We've got a video coming up soon with Flake chatting about the technology behind Photosynth. In the meantime, if you want to explore my synth of the outside of the CBS Interactive offices in downtown San Francisco, go here.

Update: Here's the video.

Update 2: Photosynth has been up and down since early Thursday morning. You can check for the status of it on the Live Labs blog.

Update 3: Site's back up.

A video from Microsoft Research and the University of Washington has been causing a stir online. The seven-minute clip, which was presented at Siggraph 2008 this week in Los Angeles, gives a small peek at some photo-viewing technology that's effectively the next generation of Photosynth, one of Microsoft Live Labs' most eye-popping technology demos.

Photosynth's technology puts hundreds of photos on a 3D map that users can browse and navigate in a similar fashion to real life. This new technology lets the viewer see several sides of a captured object using the varying angles from multiple photos. It also figures out where most of the shots have been taken to automatically create "orbits" that let users sweep around to view alternate angles--simulating distance and perspective.

One of the most amazing aspects is how selective the system is to build a better user experience. For instance, if shots come from different angles or heights, the photos will be centered or properly moved around the 3D space to make it smooth. It will also pick out only photos from a specific time of day, and make automatic color corrections to even everything out. The demo of this around the 4:17 mark is really, really cool.

While Photosynth continues to be a technology demo, here's hoping we get fun stuff like this to play with as part of popular photo-sharing sites. Users are already geotagging their shots on sites like Flickr, but the browsing experience once they're on a 2D map is a little blah. Going forward it should be all about making that viewing experience both engaging and as realistic as possible.

[via IStartedSomething]

Related: Microsoft touches up video editing

Ever wish you could recreate the effect of those neat multilens 3D cameras without having to buy the hardware? Lucky for you there's some cool 3D technology coming out of Stanford called Make3D. The service uses machine learning to go over your photograph and recreate depth and perspective in three dimensions.

Once photographs have gone through processing, you get a flyover that does a quick back and forth over the rendered scenery. You also get a 3D environment that you can walk though using the keyboard's arrow keys. Users can download both of these files to their desktops for later viewing.

I uploaded about half a dozen photographs earlier today and only got one to go through the seemingly stringent processing requirements. However, the results on a picture of a beach were fast and impressive. The technology is not quite perfect, but there's already a huge gallery of user-uploaded images that have been run through the process and come out the other side with an extra dimension that makes them wonderful to explore. You can view pictures on the gallery without having to sign-up. Just keep in mind, you've got to have Adobe's Shockwave player installed on your browser to get the 3D goodness.

A similar service from Freewebs called fotowoosh has been around since last April. Although, it doesn't have a clear front end for consumers to publish their own photos. Also worth mentioning is Microsoft Live Labs' Photosynth project, which creates a 3D environment using a matrix of photos.

Make3D is a project lead by Ashutosh Saxena, who is joined by Min Sun, and Sung Chung along with Stanford faculty member Professor Andrew Ng.

Here's a video of the tech in action. There are two more after the break.

... Read more

If you enjoyed the first round of Photosynth'd pictures of NASA shuttle Endeavor, you'll probably enjoy these. Taken in space by the crew of the International Space Station, the newly uploaded shots show off the underside of the space shuttle, which the Microsoft Labs team is touting as a "first-hand look at what you might see on a space-walk." Of course, when it comes to the underside of space shuttles, astronauts are usually inspecting these things for damage while hurtling hundreds of miles an hour above the Earth. You can do this from the comfort of your Web browser, assuming you're running Windows XP or Vista with a capable graphics card. Mac users are out of luck.

Check out the slightly singed bottom of the space shuttle Endeavor in its full, Photosynth'd glory, sans years of astronaut training and those nauseating space walks.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Enthusiasts of Microsoft 's Live Labs project Photosynth get a new environment to explore this morning. In addition to art galleries, town squares, and various buildings in Britain, users can now explore shuttle Endeavour before its launch on Wednesday. For those unfamiliar with Photosynth, it's a new technology that groups together a collection of photos taken in the same location into a 3D environment. Users can zoom in and out of various parts to take advantage of higher resolution shots that show more detail, while getting an idea of where they are spatially. In the case of the space shuttle, there's a lot to see--especially since NASA got some of the shots with a helicopter.

Stefanie Olsen over at CNET News.com has more on the technology, along with a screenshot gallery. There's also a video about the project on the Microsoft Live Labs site. To check out the shuttle yourself, just click here. Keep in mind Photosynth requires a "Vista Aero Ready" graphics card. If you don't have one, you'll be greeted to a haiku.

Previous Photosynth coverage:
BBC show uses Microsoft tech for 3D imagery
Microsoft program turns 2D images into 3D

Related:
Google Earth now does night by NASA

Feel like a little kid again by zooming around the scaffolding of the shuttle launch pad.

(Credit: Microsoft / NASA.gov)

Ever wonder what the English cathedral on the Isle of Ely looks like but don't have time for a trip to East Anglia? The British Broadcasting Corp. and Microsoft are trying to take you there virtually in a more vivid way than just a bunch of snapshots on a Web site.

The BBC is using Microsoft's Photosynth software to provide 3D tours of famous buildings.

(Credit: Microsoft)

The BBC is using Microsoft's Photosynth 3D imaging software to provide views of prominent British buildings in conjunction with a new TV show, How We Built Britain.

Photosynth constructs three-dimensional structures by stitching together multiple two-dimensional images, and users can fly around a virtual world and examine details. The BBC Photosynth incarnation works over the Web as an ActiveX control, but it requires high-powered graphics hardware. (I couldn't immediately get it to work with either Internet Explorer 6.0 or Firefox 2.0, though both are allegedly supported--maybe I'll try the manual installation.)

"By clicking and dragging their mouse, visitors to the site can explore each building, zooming in to see the smallest decorative detail, or zooming out and panning 360 degrees to place the building in a wider context," Microsoft said of the technology.

The Photosynth images will be updated with new photos submitted by the public, Microsoft said. The BBC is using photo-sharing site Flickr for image uploads.

Sites that can be viewed are Ely Cathedral, Burghley House, the Royal Crescent, Bath, the Scottish Parliament buildings and the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.

Microsoft Live Labs architect Blaise Aguera y Arcas demonstrated Photosynth on video at the TED conference in March.

Users can now get 3-D photos of streets. They can also control their own little yellow person.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

This morning Google added Street View, an all new way to browse Google Maps. Launching with five major cities, Street View joins satellite and traffic maps as new ways to view geography. When in an area with a Street View, users can toggle the mode to navigate within a 3-D photograph using their mouse or keyboard shortcuts. Users get their own "person" that shows which direction you're looking at.You can also just click and drag them to new locations. The experience is a mix between Quicktime's VR environment and Microsoft Live Labs' PhotoSynth project since users can zoom in closer in any shot. Google describes it as "immersive photography."

Google also announced the launch of Mapplets, which joins the My Maps feature they launched in early April. With Mapplets, users can create their own maps mash-ups, which can be combined and toggled on and off. The example shown at this morning's press demo was a Chicago transit map, which could be mixed up with other maps shared or uploaded to the service.

Here's a street view of CNET's headquarters in San Francisco. To see any part closer up, just double click it.

(Credit: CNET Networks)