Photosynth Hands On: makes panoramas pop

Microsoft generated plenty of buzz two years ago when it first announced Photosynth. In a nutshell, Photosynth is a technology that can piece together multiple images of an area or object from multiple angles to create virtual worlds and walkthroughs called "synths." After some collaborative development with the University of Washington, a Java demo of the technology was ready in 2006, and it was immediately clear how powerful and useful Photosynth could become after some more time in the oven. In 2007, Microsoft coordinated with NASA to create a 3D tour of the space shuttle Endeavor, but only now are users able to upload their own photos.