Virtual Real Reality…

… I have to admit I’ve never been a big fan of virtual reality, and primarily because the reality presented is generally the farthest thing from reality.  Then over the holidays (a great time off by the way) I read about some advanced software development that Microsoft has been investing in, and it gave me new hope for virtual reality,… because it holds the promise of a ‘real’ reality.  Instead of looking at a computer-generated graphic representation of a street corner, a building, an object, you get to see the real deal.  It’s literally a three dimensional photograph, made up of real photos.  And with every bit of detail captured in the original photos.  But how it does this is the real magic.

Based on technology called Seadragon, a company Microsoft acquired in early 2006, Microsoft Live Labs (and Blaise Aguera y Arcas, the one who started Seadragon) has created a new piece of software called Photosynth.  What it does is implied by its name – it dynamically synthesizes lots of photographs.  I mean lots of photographs…!  One starts with a dataset of seemingly any size that contains all the digital photographs (of varying formats and quality) of the same scene/item one can gather, let’s say from Flickr.  It then calculates, based on matching specific details between different photographs,… where the photo was taken relative to the other photos.  Then by piecing this all together it produces a relatively seamless photographic image of the actual object.  You can zoom in/out, walk around, pan, all the qualities of a 3D model,… except it’s real.

One sees this demonstrated and you just sit there for a second wondering ‘how does it do that…?’  Then you move through a stage of amazement, where you just appreciate the shear power of computing.  And finally, you start to wonder about what software like this could do for you, for your company, for the world.  This is when I got really excited.  Back to virtual reality.  Instead of seeing a representation of a village in France,… now one can visually ‘experience’ that village via a synthesis of our ‘collective digital memory’. I started to think how this technology might be applied to solving complex business issues,… or how it could support high-powered group collaboration or decision making.  What would happen if you combine this software engine with other forms of computer interaction; like digital annotation, gesture or voice driven commands.  I guess it’s the ability to analyze ‘patterns’ which is the phenomenal aspect of this software in my opinion,… and it seems like it would have many uses.  Recognizing patterns is actually the one thing that humans do better than computers, especially shifting patterns over time.  But with products like Photosynth, the snapshot of reality that a photograph represents is in fact a pattern of reality at a point in time.  Correlating this to other ‘realities’ at other points in time is just plain powerful.  What if you were to apply this technology to images of weather patterns, x-rays or MRI scan patterns, security camera patterns, or even the patterns of user behavior we capture during observations when designing new workspaces.  These all represent potentially huge opportunities for extending the value of our digital memory.  So thank you Blaise, thank you Microsoft, and keep the innovations coming.  Any recent photos…?

Comments

[Mark Greiner]

Bob,… authenticity is key,… and it will take a combo of tools to create powerful visualizations.

Mark

[Bob Vanech]

Great article: A couple of thoughts...
Google's public (i.e. opensource or wiki-like) 3-d warehouse and streetscape initiatives combined with Google Earth + Photosynth would be amazing. If we could just get Microsoft and Google to get along better.

Also, advances in BIM, and the use of libraries in Revit, for example...is beginning to allow architects to "virtualize" the entire Steelcase product line inside building models pre-construction.

Question: Can I get Steelcase's families in Revit anywhere?

Bob Vanech
CEO
CADFORCE, Inc.

[Mark Greiner]

Jon ... I agree, the possibilities are limitless.

[Jon King]

With just a little imagination, think of how this concept could be applied to presentations for new structures, ski hills, golf courses, vacation destinations... it addresses endless needs in recreational as well as commercial scenarios.

[Luke Rumley]

Wow. That demo is insane.