After a few years of development, Microsoft has released Photosynth, a new photo-based VR tool for the web, to the public. Lets see how Microsoft has spiced up the panoramic landscape.

Microsoft generated plenty of buzz two years ago when it first announced Photosynth. In a nutshell, Photosynth is a technology that can piece together multiple images of an area or object from multiple angles to create virtual worlds and walkthroughs called "synths." After some collaborative development with the University of Washington, a Java demo of the technology was ready in 2006, and it was immediately clear how powerful and useful Photosynth could become after some more time in the oven. In 2007, Microsoft coordinated with NASA to create a 3D tour of the space shuttle Endeavor, but only now are users able to upload their own photos.

At least, that was the idea late last week. After Microsoft announced Photosynth, the site quickly buckled under the flood of attention and the tool was largely unavailable until a day or so ago. Either Microsoft didn’t prepare for the traffic, or a lot of people were hungry for some virtual reality.

Now that users can again access the site and upload photos, I had a chance to take Photosynth for a virtual spin. Users on anything but Windows can’t playing along yet, as Photosynth is "not cool enough" (Microsoft’s words, not ours) to run on other OSes. Support for Mac OS X is on the way, and there are varied reports as to whether Photosynth’s software and browser player will function in Windows under virtualization tools like Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. Both IE7 and Firefox 3 crashed when trying to view synths in Vista on Parallels, so I straightened up and flew right by testing on Vista natively.

After installing the small Photosynth software, I was able to upload photos to begin creating three synths: one of an apartment building’s courtyard, one that circled around a tree, and another of a room inside our new apartment that’s still a mess from moving. Microsoft’s upload tool is disarmingly simple, straightforward, and multitasking, as I was prompted to select a range of images for the first synth, add some tags, enter a name, and pick a flexible Creative Commons license for viewing and sharing the synth (note: all synths are public for now. Microsoft is working on privacy and selective sharing features).

After the upload process begins, Microsoft’s uploader allows for starting the process on a second synth, which cuts down on the foot tapping so often involved in photo uploading operations these days. Microsoft says Photosynth can handle pictures of any size, including photos that are hundreds of megapixels, though ours were but humble 7MP JPGs shot on a Canon S300 point-and-shoot.

The upload process didn’t take long for any of my synths (though I’m sure you can find folks from last week who disagree), and Microsoft applies a "synthy" rating to each synth as a measurement of how successful its software is at blending the images together. One of the most interesting aspects of Photosynth, especially if you were ever an avid QuickTime VR user or, at the least, frequent apartment shopper, is that it can tie together images respectably well from any direction, even in 3D spaces. No longer are we shackled to the old ‘n busted "360 degree view of this room" schtick. For example, multiple shots of a rock climber in vertical motion, with complex objects and textures shifting between each image, are synthed together reasonably well.

According to Photosynth’s software, my "synthiest" synth was the 180 degree rotation I did around a tree in our apartment complex’s courtyard, so it’s embedded above. Photosynth didn’t piece together every image properly, however, as one or two are out of order on my path around the tree. Another synth I created of my apartment complex courtyard fared better in the consistent experience department. Keep in mind, I shot all these with automatic settings and no tripod.

Surveying other synths at the site, I found that moving through a synth can sometimes be a little disorienting. Subtle highlights around neighboring images let you know which directions you can move next, but Photosynth employs a sort of ghosting technique to emphasize a transition when shifting from one image to the next. Depending on the context, this effect can occasionally muddy the experience. If Photosynth gets a photo or two out of place, this ghosting can contribute to getting lost in a virtual, 2D/3D synth.

A solid example of Photosynth’s true power and appeal is, of course, one of the demo synths Microsoft made available for the product’s launch. The synth above of Venice’s Grand Canal is both interesting and thorough, as it is built from over 240 photos with some that allow for zooming in on a building or virtually moving down an alleyway between buildings. It’s an actual photographic trip down the canal from various angles and it showcases details that make for a much more interesting experience than your typical "click for next image" photostream.

One minor ding in Photosynth’s experience is the strange design of its UI control panel in the upper right corner of a synth. The controls feel cartoonish and haphazardly drawn, though they will undoubtedly mature with the product. A lot of useful polish balances out Photosynth’s 1.0 offering, though, including a zoomed-out grid view of all images in a synth and simple methods for embedding and e-mailing synths to friends.

Here are some fabulous examples

So put on some music and get ready to jump around the planet.

Boats by Chihuly
Chihuly has always been famous for his glasswork. In this Photosynth you get to see it like never before. You can zoom around the boat, and drill into detail. It’s a perfect example of how art and technology can blend to provide a really great user experience.

Climbing Aegialis
Not only is the scenery good, but making a person the focal point of a synth makes for a very interesting visualization. As you click through different views you can watch the climber move along the rock. As the background changes you almost get the sense that you’re the one doing all the hard work.

Halo 3 Zanzibar
Played Halo 3? Then this level will be familiar. Using screenshots of the game we’re able to jump into the middle of the Halo world like it was any other place on Earth. It’s got a bunch of photos and it’s really cool to zoom out
and watch the 3D shapes form.

Stonehenge
National Geographic did a bunch of Photosynths and I thought Stonehenge was one of the best. They took more than 400 photos of the ancient monument which gives the user complete control over what and how they want to see it. It’s one of the more complete synths on the site and you can spend hours crawling over the rocks and stones.

Scoble Family Room
Yup, Scoble synthed his family room. But in doing show he proved that Photosynth is also great for small spaces and family memories. With only 50 photos, Robert was basically able to recreate his room which makes for a great way to share with friends and family (and the entire Internet). But the small space means it’s easy to move around and is a great demo for showing how well Photosynth can stitch together basically anything.

Photosynth is an intriguing product that generally performs better than I expected for a 1.0 offering. The site is ridiculously easy to use, and Microsoft has done us all a favor by rendering that stack of custom digital camera panorama software CDs obsolete with a simple website. As the product and tools mature, Photosynth can fulfill much more of its potential to be a vehicle for easily creating and sharing high-resolution, immersive environments on the web.

Courtesy – Ars Technica and Zdnet

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