|
|
| Press Release & News: [Most recent news at the top] Alnwick Castle gardens A few images from a summer visit to Alnwick Castle garden with its spectacular oversized tree house. The garden is now finally mature enough for all the planting to knit together to form a wonderful tapestry of colours, shapes, and aromas. 
Motor sport action at Croft A visit to Croft in Co. Durham for the visit of BTCC and supporting races - Ginetta juniors, Ginetta G50, Renault Clio and Porsche. 
Heat and downpours; Speed and action; Colour and beauty. All in a day's photography at a British Touring Cars Championship event at Croft, and throughout the country. Lots of opportunities to try out different camera work in very different conditions, so what are you waiting for? See Motor Cars & Motor Sport Jan. 2009 - Could this be a previously undiscovered Roman carved face? 
A natural crack in the rock has two manmade chisel slots that are the eyes, surmounted by two curving thickset eyebrows that stand proud of the stone. Underneath and directly between the eyes is a snout like nose (again standing proud of the stone) with a hollow mouth shape directly below it. Just visible as well is a slight depression curving from near the right eye past the cheeks under the mouth and up the other side. It looks very realistic especially in the right light. But caution is always called for - the stone is naturally lumpy in places and some aspects could be chance - but I'm sure that someone has used some of the natural features to create a very clear face. However, from what era will be the next question that needs to be answered, and only time and some professional opinions will allow a more direct answer. The Romans have used stone from this area, but so have many others, so perhaps in time I will be able to update you with a more definitive answer. But, as mentioned throughout this website, take your time to look around, and you may well find views and compostions that others haven't spotted before - if this is a previously unknown face then the fact of the matter is that this has been sitting there for people to spot for over a thousand years! Jan. 2009 - Gigapan panorama goes for the big time audience A Gigapan panorama of the President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address has been put on display at the Gigapan.org website http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=15374. This image by David Bergman shows some of the joy of being able explore an image, in this case one of potential historical importance and interest. Gradually the potential for the Gigapan project is expanding and although a lot of work has gone into this image to reduce any signs of movement resulting in misalignments, by 26 January 2009 more than 321880 people had explored the image! So well worth the effort. News from 2008 Some of these are rivalled by Google's own reseach and development, including Picasa 3 (http://picasa.google.com/), and Picasa WebAlbums (http://picasa.google.com/features.html). Indeed, as mentioned below and elsewhere on this website, Google have sponsored the Gigapan panoramic system and all Gigapans can be easily uploaded and linked to Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/). The good news for a lot of us photographers is that many of these products are free - the beta products may in due course become paid for programs, but for the time being there is an awful lot of good technology just waiting out there for you to try. And despite some being betas, the programs are very capable even at this stage. .png) Gigapan News: No 5 Gigapan panoramas update - progress so far Well the wonderful British weather forgot to visit us this year, and rain and more rain seemed the order of the day! This didn't help with being able to plan travels to interesting locations to then take beautiful panoramas. So the number of Gigapans taken in the last few months has been significantly reduced! Still, after taking 7500 images in the early stages of the project, it has given time for testing the stitching software that has been developed for this project. As apart of the beta program there has been the release of various updates to Stitcher, developed to try to deal with some of the issues thrown up by the beta. Columns with a spiral pattern, numerous straight lines in different directions, direct sunlight glare, movement, deep shade, areas of one predominant colour all can fool stitching software and lead to some strange results. The means of saving any resulting panorama or making Photoshop alterations can influence how easy it is for us to use stitching software, so as each updte is released we have seen gradual imporvements to Stitcher and its ease of use. However, even at this stage, comparison tests between early versions and the latest release can make interesting reading - so for stitching the very large panorama of the interior of Hexham Abbey • The gigapan folder for this stitching is 145,731,087 bytes (size on disk 187,035.648 bytes - 178MB) - this doesn't include temporary files that were created and deleted [the original stitching of this panorama resulted in 392,004,947 bytes (size on disk 567,103,488 bytes - 540MB)!]
• There are 2 log files – the main txt file is 66,820,731 bytes and the other 287,939 bytes [the original was one txt file of 127,499 bytes!]
• The finished stitch is a 1,365,041 byte .gigapan file [the original was a 1,232,075 byte file] and its ease of use. Unfortunately, Stitcher in this case wasn't able to create a correct 360° panorama, so further testing and revisions to Stitcher are still needed. So the beta test continues, but with the empahsis on ensuring that Stitcher is fit to compete with the best of stitching software. Also noticeable on the beta testers forum is the influx of new testers - the sense of community has been good and the range of interests has lead to some amazing ideas for the development of the project. It looks like the final quantities of the beta Imager are now being made available for immediate purchase, and we wait to see if a new improved version of the Gigapan Imager is announced in the coming months. Check by at http://www.gigapansystems.com/ for further information. Thanks for your interest, Chris 23rd June 2008
Gigapan News: No 4
Gigapan panoramas update - progress so far What has happened to the British weather? Opportunities to plan site visits for specific Gigapan panoramas have been made difficult with a mix of weather that seems more like autumn than early summer! With the gradual winding down of the beta stage of the project, time has been spent evaluating the pros and cons of the Gigapan Imager beta and of the Stitcher software. A few areas of weakness have been highlighted, as expected, by the beta test - this seems to be partly in the strength and reliability of the camera shutter release mecahnism, and partly in the ability of the Stitcher software to deal with a very few types of scenes especially, it seems, if the scene includes certain patterns or lines. However, against this has been the ability to create large complex panoramas with minimal difficulty, and for this the 'free' Stitcher software has proved to be equal or better than most of the panorama stitching software that is available. Within the Gigapan team one imagines that the Imager will be developed to hopefully improve the design and reliability of the camera triggering mechanism - in the longer term, some form of electronic shutter release would be perhaps an obvious answer, but at the present time compact cameras do not tend to have this capability. There is no doubt though that the Gigapan Imager does provide a fantastic opportunity to widen the field of panorama imagery to a greater market - the idea of a value for money robotic camera mount will appeal to many, but it's use will be most attractive to people who have an interest in creating landscape panoramas, have good computer equipment and, most of all, have the time to spend not just taking the panoramas but also stitching the images to form the panorama and upload it to the web. The link with Google Earth creates the opportunity for companies and tourist organisations to use the Gigapan panoramas to 'sell' a destination - fly over an area and then zoom down and into the landscape - the possibilities are endless and the educational side of it as well is fascinating - so watch this space! I will be continuing to take Gigapan panoramas as and when travel and the weather 'conspire' to allow me, and these will continue to be added to the Gigapan.org website - a lot of the beta test has been during the dark winter months, and as we start to get improved weather I'm hoping to be able to take some lovely sunny panoramas!! The best of these will be added to this website. As always, if you have any particular scenes that you would like to see made into a panorama, please let me know at gigapan@justswanningaround.co.uk Keep looking in on this site, and thank you for your interest
Chris
9th May 2008
Gigapan News: No 3
Gigapan panoramas update - progress so far Well, time has flown by and 15 Gigapan panoramas have now been uploaded as part of the beta testing of the Gigapan Imager. 7500 images were taken by me in January to April of this year as part of the beta testing. Fault finding and suggestions have been going well and some important improvements made to the Gigapan website and Stitcher software. A fuller news release will follow in due course with more detail on the project so far. In the meantime, head over to www.gigapan.org and enjoy the many spectacular panoramas that are being uploaded from around the world. 20 January 2008
Gigapan News: No 2
Gigapan panoramas update - Hexham Abbey Interior
As some of you may be aware, I have recently started testing one of only 300 beta Gigapan robotic camera mounts in the world. These are used to take high detail panoramic images in a project that has the support of Carnegie Mellon University, NASA's Ames Research Centre, Charmed Labs LLC, Google, and the National Geographic Society. The project is part of the Global Connection Project http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~globalconn/overview.html
As part of the beta testing, a number of panoramic photos are being gradually uploaded onto the internet, and this will continue over the next few months of the test period. These images can consist of several hundred images, although a ‘normal’ panorama might be nearer 50 to 100 images. The large number of images used, each taken at the camera’s maximum zoom, enables great detail to be contained in the resulting panoramas and allows them to be ‘explored’. The possibilities of this technology for numerous uses such as science and education is fascinating - there is a lot for children to discover in the Gigapan panoramas and the hope is that it encourages them to explore architecture and landscapes around the world. There is however still some development of the hardware and software required, and a lot to learn, thus the need for this beta test stage of the project.
The first extremely large indoor panorama was taken in Hexham last week, and the finished result has just been posted to the Gigapan website. It’s an image with lots to explore of a building with lots of history and has one of my favourite ceilings!
The Hexham Abbey interior panorama can be viewed at http://share.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=2617 or at http://justswanningaround.co.uk/gigapan.aspx and it is also visible on Google Earth 4.2 (with the Preview: Gigapan Panoramas layer selected). You should register with the Gigapan website in order to be able to see all shared Gigapan panoramas on Google Earth.
It is a 360° panorama of Abbey’s nave and transepts from the centre of the crossing (i.e. under the bell tower), viewing from about 1m. height up to the ceilings.
It consists of 704 individual photographs! It equates to a 1.38 billion pixel image (about 230 times more pixels than a normal image).
In all it has taken about 15 hours of computer processing time to stitch the individual images together and just over 5 hours to upload to the Gigapan.org website!
Considering the difficult light, with a mix of bright sunlight lighting up the walls and dark timberwork in dark shade, I hope that you enjoy the finished image.
The panorama on the Gigapan.org website shows as a long strip, while the image shown on Google Earth is now viewable as a true dome-shaped 360° image.
If you have any problems viewing the image please let me know as soon as possible - joins on 360° panoramas are often not perfect and unexpected, crooked lines often may improve as you zoom into the image.
I have also made a few other panoramas that are now viewable either via Google Earth 4.2 or via www.gigapan.org. You can search the Gigapan website using keywords such as Hexham, Newcastle, Abbey, Quayside, etc. or by way of a map search. Some panoramas may be replaced / updated when the winter lighting conditions have improved, as the poor weather impacts on the quality of the images. It is hoped that a few more iconic interiors of important buildings in the region, as well as some of the classic landscape and coastal panoramas, will be ‘gigapanned’ over the coming months, so if interested please keep checking the websites noted above.
Please forward the Hexham Abbey link to friends and family, as the opportunity to explore the panorama and if necessary find fault is one of the key reasons for this beta stage of the project. It is therefore important that if you have any comments, difficulties, or points to raise about the panorama or about the viewing of the panorama on the website, that you do not hesitate to contact me at gigapan@justswanningaround.co.uk - any comments are a valuable part of this beta testing and can be raised with the Gigapan team.
Anyone wanting additional information about the project should contact me at the email address above, or look at some of the information and links on http://gigapan.org/about.php.
In the meantime, thank you to the Rector of Hexham Abbey for allowing this panorama to be taken - recent emails from the Gigapan team in USA have said about the Hexham Abbey panorama "Wow. And double Wow!", "Wow! Stunningly beautiful", "I completely love your Abbey panorama" and "One outstanding new addition is: http://gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=2617 -- a view of Hexham Abbey by Chris".
Many thanks
Chris
www.justswanningaround.com
10 January 2008 One of only 300 Gigapan robotic camera mounts available as part of a worldwide public beta program is being tested locally in Tynedale over the next few months. Panoramic images will be taken around the region as part of the 10 week beta test, with images ranging from seascapes to landscapes. Some of the obvious local panoramas of the region will hopefully be taken, such as Hadrian’s Wall & Newcastle Gateshead Quayside, but there may also be some interiors of important local buildings, a few gardens and perhaps one or two curiosities.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in America, in collaboration with scientists at NASA’s Ames Research Center, have built a low-cost robotic device that enables any standard consumer compact digital camera to produce breathtaking gigapixel (billions of pixels) panoramas, called GigaPans. First used by NASA, the GigaPan technology was the brainchild of the scientist behind imaging technology used on board the rover vehicles that explored Mars. NASA helped adapt the robotic camera mount, in conjunction with scientists at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute in the United States. Among the first to use the technology is UNESCO, the United Nations agency. There are plans to use the GigaPan system to enable children from different parts of the world to learn about different cultures and neighbourhoods. As with the NASA Mars Project, it could also be an important tool for ecologists, biologists and other scientists in sharing and exploring the tremendous detail contained within the Gigapan images. The GigaPan project is part of the Global Connection Project, which is backed by the National Geographic Society and Google.
GigaPan consists of three technological developments: 1/. A robotic camera mount for capturing very high-resolution (gigapixel and up) panoramic images using a small digital camera - the tripod-based Gigapan mount makes it possible for a standard compact digital camera to take hundreds of overlapping images of landscapes, buildings or rooms; 2/. Custom software for constructing very high-resolution gigapixel panoramas. The stitcher software developed by Carnegie Mellon and NASA's Ames Research Center, ensures that the individual images can be arranged in a grid and digitally stitched together into a single image that could consist of tens of billions of pixels; 3/. A new type of website for exploring, sharing and commenting on gigapixel panoramas and the detail our users will discover within them - the GigaPan website allows hosting and sharing all kinds of panoramas, and so the robotic GigaPan mount is recommended but is certainly not required to be part of this community. These huge image files can then be explored by zooming in on features of interest in a manner similar to Google Earth. When an image is viewed on a computer screen, small details can be seen in fine detail when zooming-in on an object in the background of the panoramic picture. The public can then explore and share their snapshots of these details. To view images taken with the Gigapan robotic camera mount as well as other panoramas, or for further details, visit www.gigapan.org (you will need to open a free account first) and do a search for “Hexham”. One such image can be found at http://share.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=2451 You can also see some of the Gigapan images on Google Earth (click here to download the latest version of Google Earth) – you need version 4.2 or later, (under Layers, click the + symbol beside Geographic Web then click the checkbox for Preview: Gigapan Photos). Start by zooming into Hexham and click on the Gigapan symbols (see below) over the Abbey and Sele area – over the coming months more will be added for the surrounding area, so keep checking, and in the meantime enjoy exploring other Gigapans around the world.
But perhaps you might have a few ideas that you would like to see recorded and then be able to explore them on the project website or Google Earth – if so please email gigapan@justswanningaround.co.uk and let us know.  Gigapan symbol used in Google Earth 4.2 Copied below, the Gigapan press release - Carnegie Mellon System Enables Any Digital Camera
To Produce Interactive, Multibillion-Pixel Panoramas
Developers Hope New Technology Will Enhance Global Understanding
PITTSBURGH—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 gigapixel (billions of pixels) panoramas, called GigaPans.
The technology gives people a new way to make and share images of their environment. It is being used by students to document their communities and by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to make Civil War sites accessible on the Web. To promote further sharing of this imagery, Carnegie Mellon has launched a public Web site, www.gigapan.org, where people can upload and interactively explore panoramic images of any format.
In cooperation with Google, researchers also have created a GigaPan layer on Google Earth. Anyone using Google Earth can now fly into these GigaPan panoramas in the context of exploring the world.
Researchers have begun a public beta process with the GigaPan hardware, Web site and software. The hardware technology enabling GigaPan images is a robotic camera mount, jointly designed and manufactured by Charmed Labs of Austin Texas (www.charmedlabs.com). The tripod-like mount makes it possible for a digital camera to take hundreds of overlapping images of landscapes, buildings or rooms. Then, using software developed by Carnegie Mellon and Ames, these images can be arranged in a grid and digitally stitched together into a single image that could consist of tens of billions of pixels.
These huge image files can then be explored by zooming in on features of interest in a manner similar to Google Earth. "We have taken imagery and made it a new tool for exploration and for enhancing global understanding," said Illah Nourbakhsh, associate professor in the School of Computer Science's Robotics Institute. Nourbakhsh and Randy Sargent, senior systems scientist at Carnegie Mellon West in Moffett Field, Calif., led GigaPan's development. "An ordinary photo makes it possible to cross language barriers," Nourbakhsh explained. "But a GigaPan provides so much information that it leads to conversations between the person who took the panoramas and the people who are exploring it and discovering new details."
Last spring, the Pennsylvania Board of Tourism began to use GigaPan to enable people to virtually explore Civil War sites. The technology is also being used for Robot250, an arts-based robotics program in the Pittsburgh area. Robot250 will increase technical literacy by teaching students, artists and other members of the public how to build customized robots. (See www.robot250.org.)
Nourbakhsh and his colleagues recently began to work with UNESCO's International Bureau of Education (IBE) and its Associated Schools Network on a project that will link school children in different parts of the world in exploring issues of cultural identity through a classroom project. Middle school children from Pittsburgh to South Africa to Trinidad and Tobago will use the GigaPan camera to share images of their neighborhoods, lives and cultures. "This project will explore curriculum development from the local to the global level," said IBE Director Clementina Acedo. "It is an extraordinary opportunity to link a school-community based educational practice with high-end technology in the service of children's innovative learning, personal development and world communication. Plans call for the experiences of these children from poorer and richer countries to be presented at the 48th session of the International Conference of Education scheduled to take place in Geneva in November 2008.
Besides being a tool for education, Nourbakhsh and Sargent see the GigaPan system as an important tool for ecologists, biologists and other scientists. They plan to foster this effort by making several dozen GigaPans available to leading scientists with support from the Fine Foundation of Pittsburgh.
Nourbakhsh hopes the non-commercial GigaPan site will help to develop a community of GigaPan producers and users. "We're not interested in becoming just another photo-sharing site," he said. "We want as many people as possible involved. GigaPan is not just about the vision of the person who makes the image. People who explore the image can make discoveries and gain insights in ways that may be just as important."
Sargent got the idea for GigaPan when he was a technical staff member at Ames Research Center, helping to develop software for combining images from NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers into panoramas. He became convinced that the same technology could open people's eyes to the diversity of their own planet. "It is increasingly important to give people a broad view of the world, particularly to help us understand different cultures and different environments," he said. "It's too easy to have blinders on and to only see and understand what is local."
The GigaPan camera system is part of a larger effort known as the Global Connection Project, www.cs.cmu.edu/~globalconn, led by Nourbakhsh and Sargent. Its purpose is to make people all over the world more aware of their neighbors. Global Connection's earlier accomplishments include the publication of the National Geographic magazine photography and story layer in Google Earth.
| |
|