Thursday, May 7, 2009

Microsoft Connects Photosynth, Virtual Earth

Redmond-based Microsoft is connecting its new 3-D stitching software, Photosynth, with its Virtual Earth mapping software, saying today that it will allow commercial use of Photosynth as part of an integration with Virtual Earth. Photosynth takes digital photographs and stitches them into a 3-D model which can be browsed by users, who can zoom and pan through that model. According to Microsoft, it is hoping companies might use Photosynth to show off real estate, give an interactive view of hotels, resorts, and cities, for visual media projects, and for the public sector. Pricing on commercial use of the technology was not disclosed.