Microsoft Photosynth

Posted on June 10, 2007 by Alvin Trusty

Watch how this new project from Microsoft can automatically create “hyperlinks” between different photos on the web. This is way beyond geotagging. You can find out more about the software here – Photosynth.

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3 Responses to Microsoft Photosynth

  1. Debbie says:
    June 11, 2007 at 7:19 am

    Now THIS is a technology for which I see nearly limitless applications. I love the idea of a “multi-resolution experience” – esentially maturing the idea of hyperlinks from one of endless clicks to a drill-down-as-you-are-interested visual format.

    The screen resolution problem which is mentioned ever so briefly will be a serious limitation of the application of this technology to the “common user.” To take advantage of this type of linking, you must have a screen capable of very high resolution. Technology in this area is going to have to evolve.

    What he’s done with meta-tagged photos is incredible; a blend of tagging with the emerging social networking technology. It makes me think about why we take photos in the first place – especially of famous places that everyone can visit. Why bother to take a photo of Notre Dame if you can pull one off the web? Of course, our photos which at first seem very public in nature like that are actually very private, evoking memories and feelings of a personal experiential nature.

    It was interesting that, for obvious reasons, photos with close-ups of people were less useful to the project (he talks of Notre Dame being “obscured” by people). I can see an application with eventual online, photo “phone books” to make use of that data.

  2. alvin says:
    June 11, 2007 at 7:59 am

    I related this technology back to my most recent “mass photo” session which was my daughter’s graduation. There were several hundred digital cameras in the audience. What if all our photos could be “joined” for the ultimate gallery of the event?

    What if the same thing could be done for an even larger event like graduation at Ohio State?

  3. Debbie says:
    June 11, 2007 at 12:31 pm

    The problem then becomes sorting and tagging. At the most recent CM national convention I attended, the photos taken by the professional photographers were shared with all 7,000 attendees. We had the ability to select and print for ourselves any of the shots we wanted. The problem is that there were over a thousand pictures taken. No one I knew wanted to bother looking through these pictures for the few shots featuring them and their friends.

    Now, some face-mapping/matching technology combined with the ability to process/scan thousands of pictures would significantly increase the functionality. Otherwise, how do you overcome the hurdle of too much information?