In September of 1848, Charles Fontayne and William Porter took a series of 8 panoramic views of Cincinnati by the then still new
daguerreian process, capturing a little more than two miles of the riverfront. In skilled hands, daguerreotype can capture an amazing resolution, so much that modern technology is required to view the full image.
In 2007, the 1848 Cincinnati panorama was restored, utilizing a stereo microscope, finding so much detail that the eight 6 ½ inch by 8 ¼ inch plates could be enlarged up to 170 by 20 feet without losing clarity. In May of this year,
the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County put the daguerreotype plates on display with touch-screen computer displays to see the fine details. But if you can't make it to Cincinnati, the library has
a new website where you can navigate and zoom in for a glimpse of life along the riverfront. [via
mefi projects]
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Jul 19, 2011 -
29 comments
The official Google Earth plugin is one free download that makes all sorts of cool stuff possible in your browser. There's
a full screen version of the program (complete with underwater views and 3D buildings) which can be searched by entering queries at the end of the URL. There's
a framed version with support for layers, historical imagery, day/night cycles, and the Google Sky starmap.
Less useful but more fun are Google's collection of "experiments" demonstrating the possibilities of the Earth API, including
a "Geo Whiz" geography quiz,
an antipode locater,
a 3D first-person view of San Francisco,
a virtual route-follower, and
MONSTER MILKTRUCK!, a crazy fun driving simulator that lets you careen a virtual milk truck through the Googleplex campus, ricochet off the Himalayas, or explore any other place you care to name.
Lots more can be found in the
Google Earth Gallery -- highlights include
a look at mountaintop removal mining,
a real-time flight tracker,
a guide to trails and outdoor recreation,
a 360 panorama catalog,
geotagged Panoramio photos,
and the comprehensive crowdsourced
Google Earth Community Layer.
And while it's too large to view online, don't miss loading
the Metafilter user location map into a desktop version of Google Earth!
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jun 9, 2011 -
15 comments
"The finished Strahov library panorama , released Tuesday on Martin’s website, is a zoomable, high-resolution peek inside one of Prague’s most beautiful halls, a repository of rare books that is usually off-limits to tourists... Martin’s panorama lets you examine the spines of the works in the Philosophical Hall’s 42,000 volumes, part of the monastery’s stunning collection of just about every important book available in central Europe at the end of the 18th century — more or less the sum total of human knowledge at the time."
posted by languagehat
on Mar 30, 2011 -
24 comments
Paris in 26 gigapixels is a stitching of 2346 single photos showing a very high-resolution panoramic view of the French capital (354159x75570 px). Dive into the image and visit Paris like never before! [more inside]
posted by i_cola
on Mar 12, 2010 -
41 comments
A most unusual panorama: a proof of concept combining 180 degree panorama photography along with camera movement.
The camera mounted with a fish-eye lens is placed on a trolley traveling in a circle.
posted by bluedaniel
on Sep 30, 2008 -
33 comments
Science Daily reports that researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center, have built a low-cost robotic device that enables any digital camera to produce breathtaking panormamic images called
Gigapans.
posted by Dave Faris
on Oct 2, 2007 -
25 comments
The main problem with panorama photography is that good photo stitching software is expensive and often difficult to use. Then when you have finally managed to put together a good panorama, it's nigh-on impossible to share it with your friends. Scrolling back and forth on your screen is possible, of course, that's so un-Web 2.0!
CleVR offers a possible solution with a free, embeddable Flash viewer for panorama photographs, with some cool
outdoors, groovy
indoors and some downright
surreal stuff already available.
posted by SharQ
on Apr 11, 2007 -
36 comments
Autostitch is the world's first fully automatic 2D image stitcher. Capable of stitching full view panoramas without any user input whatsoever, Autostitch is a breakthrough technology for panoramic photography, VR and visualisation applications. This is the first solution to stitch any panorama completely automatically, whether 1D (horizontal) or 2D (horizontal and vertical). Don't miss
the gallery.
posted by crunchland
on Oct 22, 2006 -
54 comments
Arounder has an ongoing collection of high-quality full screen Quicktime VR panoramas of European cities, focusing on famous artistic and cultural landmarks (in
Rome,
Florence,
Köln,
Barcelona,
Cyprus), with interactive maps and travel information. A collaboration with national tourist offices by Swiss company
Vrway Communication, which also publishes
Vrmag, a bi-monthly review of panorama photography, and the
FullscreenQTVR directory in collaboration with the well-known
panoramas.dk (previously mentioned on metafilter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
posted by funambulist
on Mar 6, 2006 -
5 comments
Big Eye in the Sky. A collection of absolutely incredible 360 degree panoramas by St. Paul photographer Ed Fink of the Twin Cities, Mt. Rushmore, the Post-Katrina Gulf Coast and more. He claims to be the first photographer in the world to do full spherical (180 x 360) panoramas from a helicopter. The effect is truly spectacular. Those with vertigo beware.
posted by panoptican
on Dec 8, 2005 -
19 comments
A world wide panorama shoot. On Saturday, March 20, more than 170 photographers in 39 countries around the world celebrated the Equinox by creating VR panoramas. This site showcases the results of their efforts.
(Quicktime needed)
posted by Ljubljana
on Apr 15, 2004 -
6 comments
