Photosynth

Tom pointed me in the direction of this fascinating web application from Microsoft Live Labs today.

Its a silverlight application called Photosynth, and allows you to stitch together loads of photos of an object or location to create a near-3D view. Actually, it doesn't just 'allow you' - it does the whole thing for you. All you have to do is upload your photos in no particular order, and it generates the finished product for you. The end result is explorable, multi-view experience not dissimilar from Google's StreetView.

Its got scope to be refined a great deal more, but the visual results are already quite stunning.

Currently a whopping 20gb of space is being offered for you to store all your 'synths'.

This technology could easily be applied as a resource for learners, (especially distance learners) who would like to see, from home, the place they are going to visit before they set off. Missed a field trip? Relevant buildings, locations and objects could be captured in amazing digital detail and revisited at anytime, from anywhere.