Microsoft Turns 2-D Pictures into 3-D

By the Betanews Staff | Published July 31, 2006, 2:57 PM

Microsoft has released a technology preview of a application it calls "Photosynth," which has the capability to turn two-dimensional images into three-dimensional landscapes. The program does this by analyzing several different images of the same object, and then reconstructing it in 3-D. The user would be able to virtually "walk" or "fly" through this space, Microsoft says.

Photosynth is slated to be demonstrated at the Siggraph 2006 computer graphics conference in Boston on Wednesday. Photosynth was born out of Microsoft's Live Labs, a group of scientists and engineers that are studying new ways to use the Internet. The group was founded in February 2006 by Dr. Gary Flake, who joined MSN as a distinguished engineer in April of last year.

Comments

View comments by with a score of at least

Not quite 3-d, but a very nice 2-D.

Score: 0

|

see? see below. they laughed at me. BELIEVERS.

Score: 0

|

Wow Wow Wow.
Great idea.
It will give a boost to camera phone sales, i can imagine ppl taking pictures and mobile phone adding location of that picture using mobile network in meta data.
It will be better if they are going to allow it to be community based like wikipedia.
They can still make money that way by adding this technology in their mobile phone OS.
..... just day dreaming.........
And this thing looks lot more innovative /creative than any thing google have introduced recently. (exclude Keyhole picasa and other stuff coz they bought it).
they can use it in mobile os, can use it to take on flikr and Google earth and add their Corbis library to it etc etc that is why i think this can be huge.

I can just imagine the reaction of ppl here if this may have been introduced by google.

Score: 0

|

I know what I want to use this software for...

Score: 0

|

Pr0n

Score: 0

|

Look nice. But how much memory will it use?

Score: 0

|

37.5 MB

Score: 0

|

It's like a panorama on steroids! Depending on just how good the algorithm used is, this could be an awesome tool. Stitching together a handful of images into a panorama is difficult (especially when there is significant change in the optical axis), so if this can do it sucessfully.... :cool:

Score: 0

|

Err... released? Where? I don't see any download.

Score: 0

|

Score: 0

|

too sweet, vista and intel e6600...tech tinkering fun :)

Score: 0

|

might be good for them, but i don't need it. Maybe it's a step towards producing 3d halographic images fm 2 dimensional views "of space and time.....".

Score: 0

|

coming from MS, do you expect it to work really? be honest.

by the time it is released, it will have some features cut off. you will be able to transform only blank pictures to 3-D, unless you buy Photosynth Premium. But be aware, the may cash you for the betas.

Score: 0

|

damn the man and damn capitalism.

i bet you hate apple pie too, you commie.

(keep in mind i'm just trying to get my point across)

Score: 0

|

Yah lol i know exactly what to expect. A nice high quality product that will work. HA

Score: 0

|

Oh shut up will you?

Score: 0

|

Ah, then you should have called a pinko red commie.

...just sayin'. ;)

Score: 0

|

Some people just let their mind clouded by hate. Recognize when to put "The Corporation" down and when to see that it's a cool product.

Score: 0

|

i'm not expressing HATE, it is justified DISTRUST. Really, i'd save my happiness for when i see another company's solution.

Score: 0

|

Fantastic!!! Amazing!! Never dreamd of someting like that!!!!! Its a very "cool" technology!!!!!!!!!!! If you acess the Photosynth site, theirs some cool photos of the program.

Score: 0

|

Who cares!
M$ is not cool!

Score: -1

|

obviously you do, lol

"i'm so cool for making fun of MS and using $, and various other symbols that make ME sound cool and not Microsoft. They're just some company who exists to make and sell products...wait, that's what ALL companies do? Whatever, MS is not cool because me and other people say so, and that's what counts...but we're not mindless sheep eventhough we follow what we don't really know about."

I don't like communism. I like MS. :)
I also think MS Vista is cool, Intel E6600, Vault Zero, Altoids Mint gums, Gortons Beer Battered Fish, Sun Dried Tomatoes (any brand), Crazy Bubble Tea and lots of other stuff.

I like what I like...it's a free world, where I live anyway. Things are cool or not, all subjective. Boo with communism

Score: 0

|

and boo for the fact that he drives on the road my tax dollars paid for.

thank democracy i'm not working to feed him at least (unless he's on welfare in which case why is he using the interweb?)

Score: 0

|

Microsoft's Ray Ozzie: 'Nobody's going to be 100% open'

The mobile apps ecosystems of the world may converge over time, led by apps being ported over across platforms, according to the Chief Software Architect.

Will Firefox beat IE9 to Direct2D rendering?

Just days after Microsoft executives gave conference attendees a peek at a new rendering technology, a Mozilla contributor revealed he's working on the same thing.

Where there's smoke: Apple warranty stance raises troubling questions

Carmi Levy | Wide Angle Zoom: Smoking can be dangerous not only for your lungs, it appears, but for your Apple hardware warranty.

The fallacy of Facebook privacy

Carmi Levy | Wide Angle Zoom: If an insurance company learns something interesting about its client through the Internet, is that snooping?

Microsoft 'worked with Apple' for Silverlight on iPhone, says Goldfarb

By not making such a big deal out of trying to stream video to the iPhone, Microsoft got a big deal out of it, revealed the Silverlight product manager.

Clicker.com cuts through the Web video chaos

In a world where homemade video and Hollywood movies travel the same pipeline, it's good to have a real search engine to cut through the clutter.

A case study in improving software: What Office 2010 can learn from Notion 3

A music composition product gambles with a complete overhaul, in an effort to make headway against two well-known competitors in a tough market.

Kindle 2 update adds battery life, native PDF reader

Amazon has pushed out an update to the Kindle 2 e-reader that lengthens battery life and adds a native PDF viewer.

Safari on iPhone gets competition from a $1 browser app

Apple likes to say it gives iPhone users a full browsing experience, but a new competitor tries to incorporate more desktop browser features.

Action Replay maker sues Microsoft for Xbox 360 'predatory technological barriers'

Third-party video game accessory maker Datel has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft over the Xbox 360's recent Dashboard update.