Panoramas vs. Photosynth (Part 1)

Photosynth example

In this series, I’ll compare panoramas vs. Photosynth — methods that could be used to create a photographic platform of our world.  Well, actually more like initiate a conversation in comparing these two methods in representing our world (aka Mirror Worlds and the Metaverse Roadmap).  I’ll assume people have a decent understanding of what these are.  If not, please let me know and I can certainly explain.

So, how can we tell which one’s better?  Only time will tell.  Photosynth has a pretty huge backing and push from Microsoft, and personally I’m a huge fan.  On the other hand, panoramas have a big push as well from companies like EveryScape and Google.

One way to at least start a conversation about which one’s better is to list a set of requirements (i.e. “things you want”), weigh which one is more important, and rate how well either one does as a weighted sum (yes, I’m a f!@# nerd).

So what are these requirements?  Here’s what I think for starters:

Technical:

• scalable
• distributable
• maintainable
• extensible

Qualitative:

• believable
• photorealisitic
• interactive
• immersive

Web 2.0:

• annotatable
• searchable
• sharable
• personalization-able

Operational:

• cost
• time
• resources needed

Business:

• how do you make $ from this?
• how do you get more users?
• what are some applications?

UI/UX:

• how intuitive and simple to use is it?
• can my parents use it?
• how helpful is it?

I’ve mentioned some of them in my talk at ETech 2009 and Where 2.0 2008.  The list may vary depending on specific applications, but for general platforms it’s a decent list, IMO.

Did I miss anything?  Please let me know, and stay tuned for the next set of blogs in this series.