Innovation: What next after the megapixel wars? - tech - 16 March 2009 - New Scientist

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Innovation: What next after the megapixel wars? - tech - 16 March 2009 - New Scientist

Now that cameras have exceeded 12 megapixels, sufficient for most photographic purposes, camera companies are focusing less on more megapixels and more on improving image quality, as well as developing innovative uses for all those digital camera users. For example, Microsoft's LIveLabs offers a free online package called Photosynth (I just finished playing with it, very cool but requires software download and only works on XP or Vista). that reverse-engineers the photographer's position in the environment as it merges the photos together. The end result is a kind of 3D scene view where selecting a picture "moves" you to the new position in the 3D scene. The New Scientist  article goes on to describe other innovations, including surface mapping and gigapixel level photos based on merging multiple shots.