Digital Panoramas Made Easy

Have you ever taken a photo on a family vacation and not been able to get the full scope of the moment in a single digital camera shot?  Microsoft launched a new web site and tool that allows users to upload their digital camera shots and have them strung together into a single panoramic scene.

I had an opportunity to try out the new site this morning.  I saw the demo of this product several months ago at a technology expo and have been excited to use it ever since.  You can tell the site is new and somewhat overloaded with excited new users because it was a bit on the slower side.  The site prompts you to install a plug-in for its product and then to create an account if you want to make 'synths' of your own.  I created a panoramic shot of the Core3 office using three digital photos.  It turned out to be quite impressive.  The final shot allows you to zoom in and move the point of reference around the room.

The main glitch I ran into on my end was the product wasn't working in Internet Explorer on my computer, which oddly enough is a browser created by Microsoft.  The synth plugin worked great in Firefox though.  I did appreciate the irony in that, but I'm sure they are working small bugs out here and there in the new product.

How Does it Work?
First, go to http://www.photosynth.com and install the plug-in and register an account.  Next, upload your photos, click the Synth button, and the site creates the new panoramic scene.  Microsoft utilized technology that analyzes the pixels of each photo, finds the similarities, and seamlessly puts them together. 

You can use as many photos as you would like for a single panoramic shot.  Some of the examples on the site (http://www.photosynth.com) have over 200 photos used to make a single scene.  Others just use a couple. 

Final Result
The final result may not be the type of panoramic you are thinking of.  They aren't something you will print off and frame.  They are more web-based, interactive experiences that allow you to move around the scene as the pictures are being connected.  I would recommend checking out the Taj Mahal example that National Geographic did on the Microsoft site.  It is amazing to see some much data being put together to allow you to feel like you are there just based off of digital photos.

My next projects will probably be a baseball game at Tiger stadium or a Michigan football game.  If you put together something cool, be sure to let us know!

Posted August 25, 2008 | Read all posts by Ryan Deyer