| Follow us on Twitter |
Microsoft® Live Labs and NASA developed the environments using hundreds of photographs and a photo-imaging technology called Photosynth™. Photosynth uses hundreds of standard digital camera images to construct a 3-D view of an environment that can be navigated and explored in a highly intuitive manner.
“This collaboration with Microsoft gives the public a new way to explore and participate in America’s space program,” said William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Space Operations. “We are looking into ways of using this new technology to support future missions.”
“With Photosynth, we take pictures of an environment and knit them together into an experience that people can move through like a 3-D video game,” said Blaise Aguera y Arcas, architect at Microsoft Live Labs. “NASA provided us with some outstanding images and the result is an experience that will wow anyone wanting to get a closer look at the Endeavour and its travels.”
The specific synth collections created for this shuttle launch include these:
-The interior and surrounding area of the Vehicle Assembly Building (the largest one-story building in the world), used for housing external fuel tanks and flight hardware, and the location of orbiter mating (stacking) with the solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank to prepare the space shuttle for launch.
-Endeavour on the launchpad, including amazing detail shots taken from a helicopter
-The previous flight STS-117 shuttle Atlantis returning from Edwards Air Force Base in California to Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility
In addition, msnbc.com is providing a multimedia experience of the Endeavour shuttle launch for viewers, and will provide viewers with a link to the video demo at http://spaceworld.msnbc.com of the Endeavour shuttle launch synth collections. -Microsoft news
Posted August 6th, 2007 by harminka
