Microsoft’s name has never been synonymous with photography, visual imaging or innovative online applications. But its release Wednesday of Photosynth — a hybrid software/service that allows users to create 3-D environments by stitching multiple photographs together — suggests the company has more than a few cards up its sleeve.

In announcing the new technology, Microsoft said it has created “an entirely new visual medium.” In a video posted on Microsoft’s site, Gary Flake, a technical fellow at Microsoft, said, “Photosynth, more than any other technology that I can think of, points us in the direction of what’s to come. Photosynth will mark the beginning of an vital transition in photography and the Web.”

To create “synths,” as Microsoft calls Photosynth’s creations, users take amoung 20 and 300 overlapping photos. The Photosynth software analyzes the collection for similarities and uses that goods to estimate where a photo was taken and “recreates the environment … as a canvas

on which to display the photos,” according to a release.

From Research to Product

But rather than just enabling users to create these environments on their PCs — Macs are not yet supported — Microsoft has fashioned Photosynth as an online application. Users create synths and upload source images via the Photosynth.com Web site. The site generates cipher to embed the results on Web sites — much like YouTube — but users will have to install an ActiveX control to see synths.

Microsoft expects the technology to boost MSN, where it plans to build synths an integral part of the network. MSN will feature synths of popular destinations and notable events, the company said.

Brady Forrest, a former Microsoft Live Search executive and chairman of several O’Reilly Media conferences, wrote on the O’Reilly Radar blog that the release of Photosynth “as a product is very significant for Microsoft.” Redmond…

Orginal post by Mike

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