Synthin’ with Photosynth

As I’m sure many of you remember, I have been a fan of Microsoft Research’s Photosynth since we saw the first tech previews back in July 2006. Today I finally got some time to sit down and try it out myself. After setting up my profile on the Photosynth site and downloading and installing Photosynth, I checked out the Photosynth Guide and headed out to Woodburn Circle, a focal point on the WVU downtown campus. I took about 200 photos and brought them into the Photosynth dialog to pare the collection down to about 190 photos. I clicked the magic button to start the synth, and about 40 minutes later (it was a pretty big collection!) my synth was done and uploaded. The viewer shows the aligned photos as well as the point cloud Photosynth generates (It can be difficult to see the cloud at some angles).

When I saw the finished synth, I have to say I was even more impressed than I was after seeing all the examples already out there. Check it out below and see what you think!