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This morning I created and uploaded my Gautrain panorama (see previous post). That encouraged me to try and make a more detailed and refined panorama using a better camera. I have always enjoyed the view from my lounge / balcony so decided to try and create a panorama shot from there.

Using a basic tripod and a Canon EOS 550d DSLR camera I took a series of 31 photos which were then run through Microsoft ICE and uploaded to Photosynth. The resulting image is the 163 megapixel panorama image present below. What is really impressive is the level of detail present in the synth. Try zooming into leaves on some of the trees, cars on the freeway in the distance or to windows on the office block. This really is powerful technology which anybody can enjoy.

This second synth was taken over lunch using my Nokia E71. The quality isn’t great as it was taken handheld. The synth has many gaps and misplaced photos. I took 77 photos and ICE used 66 of them to give a 360 degree vertical coverage and 144 degrees horizontal. I uploaded it out of interest thinking it would be a bit of a disaster but after playing with it for a while made it public and added some highlights. Its amusing to play with for a short while.

You can download the Microsoft ICE tool here at the Microsoft Research website.