Thoughts on Microsoft’s Photosynth:
My first impression of this technology is that it is definitely achievable with the technologies that are already available to us, someone just had to do the work of actually putting together the program that has the power to create 3d visualizations of 2 dimensional images. But after I found out that this project was done in 2007 I am still very surprised that it was something that was developed so early. The advantages and actual applications for something like Photosynth is limitless. The example they used was ironically the 3d reconstruction of the Notre dame using only photos taken by tourists that was posted online and tagged with Notre dame. This was not as cool as it was back in 2007 as it is now, due to the Notre dame just being burnt down recently from a fire. Even if we had the technology to digitally document the architecture with 3d scanners or drones, it will still be impossible to restore something that is already destroyed. making Photosynth the only possibility to reconstruct the Notre dame. The specific application of this technology in the construction of non existing objects is only achievable through the usage of machine learning along with photo merging algorithms.
After checking the recent activities of the original team that worked on Photosynth, most members are still working in the field of machine learning. But not everyone is still in the specific subject of spatializing 2d images because their are a lot of problems when it comes to this technology. The source of image data for the creation of this 3d object are usually not trustworthy. Images could be photoshoped/manipulated and as one of the examples that the developer brought up during the ted talk was that one of the data points that the system picked up was actually a image of a poster of Notre dame as opposed to the real thing. By constructing something 3d with limited 2d data, it is hard to get an accurate picture of the whole thing. We can get a rough outline but there are also pieces that are missing to the greater puzzle. Therefore this technology can not be used as a trustworthy program if we aim to recreate an accurate depiction of a 3d object, with data missing some parts of the object has to be either left blank or imagined.
I am very exited to what this technology is capable of, I am especially interested in the part that the technology is capable of piecing fragments of 2d images for the construction of something in 3d. I can see its advantages in the usage of preserving historical sites as well as a strong tool in creating something that no longer exists or never existed. Such as creating a 3d representation of a building that only exists in a comic book. As long as there are enough 2d information of something, it could be pieced together even if it does not physically exist.