The best professional digital cameras can capture photos containing tens of megapixels. But, thanks to an affordable robotic tripod, it is now possible to use a consumer camera to take images in the gigapixel range.
The tripod robot, called Gigapan, was developed at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and uses motors to capture a scene with a grid of hundreds or thousands of images with the camera set to full zoom. Photo stitching software then combines them into a single super-detailed image containing billions of pixels, called a gigapan. The largest, most spectacular gigapans can be too large to handle on all but the most powerful desktop computers.
The result is too detailed to be viewed on any printout, but gigapans can be uploaded to a dedicated site where users are able zoom right into the images.
With an affordable version of the device launched last month, the three-legged robot has the potential to be a boon to science, as well as holiday snaps.
Check out the detail HERE when it was used at President Obamas' inauguration.
[VIA]
The tripod robot, called Gigapan, was developed at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and uses motors to capture a scene with a grid of hundreds or thousands of images with the camera set to full zoom. Photo stitching software then combines them into a single super-detailed image containing billions of pixels, called a gigapan. The largest, most spectacular gigapans can be too large to handle on all but the most powerful desktop computers.
The result is too detailed to be viewed on any printout, but gigapans can be uploaded to a dedicated site where users are able zoom right into the images.
With an affordable version of the device launched last month, the three-legged robot has the potential to be a boon to science, as well as holiday snaps.
Check out the detail HERE when it was used at President Obamas' inauguration.
[VIA]
