Amid the cash cows, Microsoft has been know venture into pretty intriguing areas and pursue ambitious technological scenarios. Some involve massive touchscreen walls and tables for easy, ultra-rich living. (See: Microsoft Surface) Something like Photosynth, meanwhile, which the company introduced many months ago to quite rapt attention from some observers in the media, is perhaps more attainable for the everyman. In short, Photosynth is a virtual environment that, through algorithmic processing, is able to establish a three-dimensional environment from photographs taken in a particular area. And from this point forward, Photosynth is also officially divested of its exclusive Live Labs tag, and is now fully funded and backed by Microsoft’s Virtual Earth team.
One step closer to real-world implementation, it seems. Chris Pendleton posted about the transition earlier today on his MSDN blog, which subsequently received a nod by Kip Kniskern of LiveSide.net.
For now, Photosynth is still a free preview available for download from its Live Labs page. And you can take a tour through some videos of what it is Photosynth can accomplish (with the appropriate supply of data). But it’s move under Virtual Earth control naturally speaks of progress and integration, which would be good news for those in the audience fatigued by the time the project has spent in its not-so-public stage in development.
