Microsoft Photosynth

I like maps.  Street, treasure, geologic, topographic, pictorial; doesn't matter - if it's a map, I like it.  But the world of maps and map making, is being turned upside down.

Internet  mapping sites are revolutionizing the way we get from one place to another and will probably soon put  hard copy, paper map publishers out of business, for good reason.  Paper maps can't be updated just before (or during) your trip.  You can't look at a map and see where construction is taking place.  You can't zoom down into a map, get down on street level and look around you.  These are just a few of the options that are available with web based mapping sites.

Some of the most exciting work in this area is coming out of Microsoft and over the next couple of days I'm going to be looking at it here.  There are several components to their work and I'm going to start with Photosynth, which lets users upload a series of photos of a particular location and then link them together into an immersive multi-panoramic exploration of that location.  This information is now in the process of being embedded in Microsoft's Bing Maps site.  Let's start with the two presentations below.  After the window loads, roll your mouse over the photo in the window, then click.  Next entry: Bing Maps.

Microsoft Photosynth presentations

Urqhart Castle, Loch Ness

Kamchatka Mountains - Vachkazhets