Photos transformed into 3D model
Microsoft's Photosynth
Technology that transforms digital images into 3D models will be unveiled at a conference on Thursday.
Microsoft's Photosynth takes collections of images, analyses them for similarities, and then displays them in a reconstructed 3D space.
The system, to be previewed at a computer graphics meeting in Boston, will allow users to walk or fly through a scene to see photos from any angle.
Microsoft says Photosynth should be available for use later this year.
Richard Szeliski, principal researcher at Microsoft Research who developed the technology with Noah Snavely and Steven Seitz, of the University of Washington, said: "The system builds a 3D model just from a raw collection of photographs."
He said the technology works by scanning collections of photographs, which can be taken from different cameras at different times. The prototype can use as few as two pictures but, said Dr Szeliski, it becomes a lot more exciting when several dozen images are used.
The 3D model will enable people to move through a scene, looking at pictures from any angle, click on specific photos, zoom in or out of a feature, and see where snaps were taken in relation to other images.
Dr Szeliski said: "I think the photo-sharing websites will be early-adopters of this technology. "Wherever people share photos, instead of just seeing a gallery of unorganised photos, now you can pull everyone else's photos together and make a rational sense out of it."
The other obvious application, he added, would be for tourism and property, where a city could provide a virtual tour or a hotel could potential visitors walk through its lobby.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5235724.stm