Transforming 2D photos into 3D

Microsoft will be unveiling its new technology that transforms two- dimensional digital images into 3D models.

Microsoft will be unveiling its new technology that transforms two- dimensional digital images into 3D models.

HT Image

“Photosynth will take collections of images, analyse them for similarities, and then display them in a reconstructed 3D space,” said Dr. Richard Szeliski, principal researcher at Microsoft Research.

He developed the technology with Noah Snavely and Steven Seitz of the University of Washington. “The system builds a 3D model just from a raw collection of photographs,” BBC quoted Szeliski as saying. Photsynth worked by scanning collections of photographs, which could be taken from different cameras at different times.

The system will allow users to see photos from any angle, click on specific photos, zoom in or out of a feature, and see where snaps were taken in relation to other images.

The technology should be available for use later this year, and photo-sharing websites were expected to be its early-adopters. Apart from personal usage, the other applications for Photosynth would be for the tourism and the property industry, Szeliski added.