Microsoft Brings Virtual Reality to the Internet

TURN 2-D INTO 3-D
The June conference that highlighted virtual reality in Berkeley amazed the hundreds of spectators who were witnesses to a new photographic technology that will allow any 2-D picture to be transferred into a 3-D image that will allow a viewer to pan into the new image and examine the picture's object or surrounding from any angle that he wishes.

Another fascinating visual demonstration came from Microsoft Live Labs where they have been working with a group of photographic experts called "Photosynth" who have developed a program that puts together huge 3-D models of various large-scale objects like office buildings and skyscrapers based only on photographs that were shot by somebody else.

When the 3-D model is embedded into it's own website, a mouse can be used by the computer user to zoom into the image and take a virtual tour of the 3-D model's environment from any angle he chooses.

VISIT OTHER COUNTRIES FROM THE PRIVACY OF YOUR LIVING ROOM
Have you ever wanted to visit the magnificent Trevi fountain in Rome but couldn't afford the expensive plane fare? Well now you can go visit every facet of this great Roman fountain free of charge because the team at Photsynth took 350 different photos from separate camera angles with the help from the photograph empire, Flickr, and constructed a virtual 3-D world of this famous fountain in which you can use your mouse to visit every nook and cranny to examine the great detailed work that the original Roman sculptors built many years ago for our current viewing pleasure.

Photosynth is currently building hundreds of vast 3-D worlds in which you can actually jump into the image and take virtual tours of various famous sculptures, paintings, architectural wonders, monuments and cityscapes that you never thought you could possibly visit in a thousand years. The special photographic technique that Photosynth uses is is a system called "point cloud" which marks a space for each photograph being used, and then stitches together a labyrinth of images that results in a seamless 3-D environment which will then allow you to explore every detail of the object in any direction you would like to go in.

EXAMINE 3-D IMAGES IN A PANORAMIC VIEWPOINT
Microsoft Research also demonstrated a new concept called "HD View", which is a high-definition panoramic viewer that is able to contain enormous globe-spanning photographic images that are can hold more than four gigapixels at any one time. The viewer is browser-based and can contain a 360-degree view of any image currently in its database.

The current version of HD View can be seen at their website with any browser currently on the web today. With this kind of 3-D imagery available today, who knows what future technology will bring us only a few years down the line?