3-D mashup of Rome from Flickr pics [video]
Using millions of images from sites like Flickr and a single computer, researchers can create 3-D models of landmarks, like the Roman Coliseum, in less than 24 hours.
"Our technique would be the equivalent of processing a stack of photos as high as the 828-meter Dubai Towers, using a single PC, versus the next best technique, which is the equivalent of processing a stack of photos 42 meters tall—as high as the ceiling of Notre Dame—using 62 PCs," says Jan-Michael Frahm, research assistant professor of computer science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who developed the system with colleagues at the the Swiss university ETH-Zurich.
To demonstrate the technique, the researchers used the three million images of Rome available online to reconstruct all of the city’s major landmarks. They also reconstructed the landmarks of Berlin in the same manner.
Full story at Futurity.
Photo credit: Jan-Michael Frahm, UNC-Chapel Hill
