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 Photosynth technology showing Spider Meadows inCentral Washington | |
| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Initial release | August 20, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-08-20) |
| Final release | 2.110.317.1042 / March 18, 2010; 15 years ago (2010-03-18) |
| Type | 3D modeling,panorama stitching |
| Website | photosynth |
Photosynth is a discontinued app and service fromMicrosoft Live Labs and theUniversity of Washington that analyzesdigital photographs andgenerates a three-dimensional model of the photos and apoint cloud of a photographed object.[1] Pattern recognition components compare portions of images to create points, which are then compared to convert the image into a model. Users are able to view and generate their own models using a software tool available for download at the Photosynth website.
Photosynth is based on Photo Tourism, a research project by University of Washington graduate student Noah Snavely.[2] Shortly after Microsoft's acquisition ofSeadragon in early 2006, that team began work on Photosynth, under the direction of Seadragon founderBlaise Agüera y Arcas.[3]
Microsoft released a free tech preview version on November 9, 2006. Users could view models generated by Microsoft or theBBC, but not create their own models at that time.[4] Microsoft teamed up withNASA on August 6, 2007 allowing users to preview its Photosynth technology showing theSpace Shuttle Endeavour. On August 20, 2007, a preview showing the tiles of Endeavour during the backflip process was made available for viewing.
On August 20, 2008, Microsoft officially released Photosynth to the public, allowing users to upload their images and generate their own Photosynth models.
In March 2010, Photosynth added support forgigapixelpanoramas stitched inMicrosoft ICE. The panoramas useSeadragon based technology similar to the system already used in synths.[5]
In July 2015, Microsoft announced it would be retiring the Photosynth mobile apps. As Photosynth prepared to shut down in early 2017,Mapillary, a crowdsourced street-level imaging platform, reached out to the Photosynth community with their Photosynth-to-Mapillary blog post,[6] and the official Photosynth Twitter account suggested users "check them out".[7] On 6 February 2017, Microsoft decommissioned the Photosynth website and services.[8]
On 20 December 2017, Photosynth returned as a feature of theMicrosoft Pix app.[9]
In the development of Microsoft Flight Simulator, Microsoft's Photosynth technology returned to recreate buildings and terrain across the entire world.
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The Photosynth technology works in two steps. The first step involves the analysis of multiple photographs taken of the same area. Each photograph is processed using aninterest point detection and matching algorithm developed byMicrosoft Research which is similar in function toUBC'sScale-invariant feature transform. This process identifies specific features, for example the corner of a window frame or a door handle. Features in one photograph are then compared to and matched with the same features in the other photographs. Thus photographs of the same areas are identified. By analyzing the position of matching features within each photograph, the program can identify which photographs belong on which side of others. By analyzing subtle differences in the relationships between the features (angle, distance, etc.), the program identifies the 3D position of each feature, as well as the position and angle at which each photograph was taken. This process is known scientifically asbundle adjustment and is commonly used in the field ofphotogrammetry, with similar products available such asImodeller andD-Sculptor. This first step is extremely computationally intensive, but only has to be performed once on each set of photographs.
The second step involves the display of and navigation through the 3D point cloud of features identified in the first step. This is done with the publicly downloadable Photosynth viewer. The viewer resides on a client computer and maintains a connection to a server that stores the original photographs. It enables a user to, among other things, see any of the photographs from their original vantage point. It incorporatesDeepZoom technology Microsoft obtained through its acquisition of Seadragon in January 2006. TheSeadragon technology enables smooth zooming into the high-resolution photographs without downloading them to the user's machine.
The PhotosynthDirect 3D-based viewing software is only available to theWindows 7,Windows Vista andWindows XP operating systems. However, the team released aSilverlight version of the viewer which has succeeded the D3D viewer as the main option to view photosynths.
As of March 2009, user uploaded Photosynth collections were available for viewing oniPhones using iSynth (3D) orSeadragon Mobile (2D only).The Photosynth application was also available from theApp Store to download oniPod Touch andiPhone. In May 2012,[10] Microsoft released a Photosynth App for its mobile platform,Windows Phone.[11] On July 10, 2015, Microsoft announced that they are retiring the Photosynth Mobile Apps, removing them from their stores, and are no longer supporting or updating them.[12]
While the Photosynth platform was shut down in early 2017, its features re-appeared in the fall within the Microsoft Pix app for iOS, however as of late 2020, the Photosynth features appear to no longer be part of the Microsoft Pix app.
The latest generation of photosynths are easy to capture, as photographs taken by any regular digital camera or mobile phone can be uploaded to Photosynth. Users have the option togeotag their digital shots on sites such asFlickr and then upload them to the online Photosynth web service. Images uploaded on Photosynth give people the ability to seamlessly view landmarks, public spaces and objects from all sides.
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| MSR Labs applied research |
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