Cool Scientist Tricks!
An article in New Scientist discusses a (relatively) affordable means of creating gigapixel-sized photographs.
The best professional digital cameras can capture photos containing tens of megapixels. But, thanks to an affordable robotic tripod, it is now possible to use a consumer camera to take images in the gigapixel range…
The tripod robot, called Gigapan, was developed at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and uses motors to capture a scene with a grid of hundreds or thousands of images with the camera set to full zoom. Photo stitching software then combines them into a single super-detailed image containing billions of pixels, called a gigapan. The largest, most spectacular gigapans can be too large to handle on all but the most powerful desktop computers.
The result is too detailed to be viewed on any printout, but gigapans can be uploaded to a dedicated site where users are able zoom right into the images.
With an affordable version of the device launched last month, the three-legged robot has the potential to be a boon to science, as well as holiday snaps.
A select group of around 25 scientists were among Gigapan’s early testers, in a project supported by a Pittsburgh non-profit organisation. After being introduced to Gigapan at a workshop last summer, the researchers were told to go out and experiment.
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Geologist Ron Schott, at Fort Hays State University, has also pushed the limits of gigapan photography.
He made the first 3D gigapans, viewed using red-green glasses to give a striking perspective on geological features even as you zoom in and out (see an example of a 3D gigapan).
They are made by combining two gigapans taken from slightly different positions. Schott is currently working to see if it is possible to build a detailed 3D virtual model of a landscape from a stereo gigapan.
