As camera resolutions increase so does the demand to visualise high resolution visuals over the web - this is especially true in terms of panoramas due to their creation using multiple imagery.
We have released our own simple solution from our lab using Google Maps - see GMap Image Creator and now Microsoft has taken this a notable step further. The research lab at Microsoft notes that:
HD View was developed with a number of goals in mind. It should:
- allow smooth panning and zooming on large images,
- only download enough data to create the current view (and possibly look ahead to the next), and
- always display the current field of view with an appropriate projection. This means that when zoomed way in you should be presented with a standard perspective projection providing a sense of immersion, and when zoomed out you experience a curved projection so that get a full overview of the scene. In between the projection should smoothly transition.
- Finally, it should be easy to create your own HD View content and present it to the world via the web.
At the moment HD View is an ActiveX® browser component, thus the first time you use it you will be asked to install the component. It also only runs in Internet Explorer® under the Microsoft Windows® operating system.
For working examples see the sites using it so far - we hope to have our own examples online shortly...