Photosynth

[Aaron Addison]

Looks like Microsoft has gone live with their Photosynth effort. You can upload your own photos now, but they are available to the general public.

Any cave photographers out there want to try it out? ----> http://photosynth.net/

When I get a moment, I may try uploading a cave map.....

Aaron

[george jaegers]

Aaron
Thanks for posting this. I have been looking for info on this since I saw the Microsoft demo video on youtube a few months ago. I didn't know they actually had a site up and running. I am anxious to see just how this new technology could be used in the cave photography world. I may have to rething how I take photos but I assume that if a bunch of people contributed photos of the same cave they could all be put together in this product to eventually produce a close to virtual tour of at least parts of a cave.
George Jaegers

[Todd]

I've been waiting for this to go live since I saw the demo over a year ago. Might try it out this weekend now that I know it's working...
-Todd

[Todd]

Here's my first test with Photosynth and caves:
http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=6c5 ... 9:-1.24813
If you hold down the "Ctrl" key while viewing the images, it will show you the point cloud only, (the most interesting part, I think) which you can spin around in 3D without the annoying effect of photographs flipping in and out of view.
It looks like there's a lot of potential for a program like this, but right now it's just a novelty photo viewer. I suppose any of the features that might make it truly useful as a mapping or visualization tool would make it into a full professional level photogrammetry program, with a price tag to match.
Still, it's interesting and kind of fun to play with, if you don't mind spending an hour or more photographing the same room over and over and over. (And you have some VERY patient friends!)
I've got a bunch more photos from the same room that I hope will add more detail to the point cloud for the walls and show more of the ceiling, but it will take a while to get to them. (The 46 images that make up this collection took about an hour to process and upload and I've got at least 100 more I could add)
-Todd

[Todd]

Better version with more walls and ceiling:
http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=02a ... 8:0.698174