Gigapixel Science thank you

We know everyone must have made it back safely to their corner of the Earth, as panoramas are already popping up on the gigapan.org website from a variety of your locales!  We hope – and believe – you each enjoyed the very first Fine International Conference in Gigapixel Imaging for Science as much as we enjoyed organizing it for you, and having the chance to meet many of you in person.

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
All papers accepted to the conference can be found here: http://gigapixelscience.gigapan.org/

MISSED A SESSION? WANT TO SHARE WITH COLLEAGUES & FRIENDS?
All conference sessions were video-recorded. We plan to make these available on youtube very soon, stay tuned, check http://gigapixelscience.org for updates!

We hope to see you all in 2012!

Sincerely,

Mary Jo Daines
Illah Nourbakhsh
Randy Sargent

Panning for Science in Science Magazine

The GigaPan, CMU Create Lab's Illah Nourbakhsh and Randy Sargent + several Fine Fellows are profiled in Karen A. Frenkel's Science Magazine article "Panning for Science."

Excerpt from the article:

"GigaPans have captured the public's imagination. Five thousand systems have been bought, and today the site hosts 40,000 public panoramas that draw 20 million visitors a year; another 20,000 are in private areas of the site while contributors work on them. Sargent and Nourbakhsh began training scientists to shoot GigaPans in 2008, and some 120 investigators are now using the system in their research. In mid-November, scientists will share findings at the Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging for Science, hosted by CMU and the CREATE lab." Click here to read the rest of this awesome article.

Science 5 November 2010:
Vol. 330. no. 6005, pp. 748 - 749
DOI: 10.1126/science.330.6005.748

How GigaPan Stitch Works

This workshop, part of the Fine International Gigapixel Conference, will be held on Friday, November 12 from 1:30 to 2:15 pm, will be led by:

• Paul Heckbert, GigaPan Systems
• Alexandre Jenny, Kolor
• Gene Cooper, Four Chambers
• Randy Sargent, GigaPan Systems/NASA/CMU

GigaPan Stitch is software that takes overlapping digital images shot from a common viewpoint, and aligns and blends them to form a high resolution mosaic. This workshop will describe how the GigaPan Stitch algorithm works, including its strengths and weaknesses and should save users time shooting, stitching, and uploading.

Participants will understand the internal steps used by the Stitch algorithm: input image grid, image feature selection, alignment, projection, blending, and storage in an image quadtree, Learn the best camera and gigapan imager settings, and learn troubleshooting tips to correct common problems.

Register now to attend this workshop: www.gigapixelscience.org

More than meets they eye:

No, not transformers. Instead, think "Gigapixel Resolution High Dynamic Range Imaging Workflow and Techniques," a workshop presented by Jay Hirshfeld, CEO/President of Cineflock, LLC and COO/VP of production at Virsocom, Inc. Jay's workshop will demonstrate the benefits and detriments of various methods for obtaining consistent, accurate HDR gigapixel images.

While excellent exposure across an entire image can be achieved in gigapixel-resolution imaging simply by 'averaging' the exposure ranges across a scene, using high dynamic range (HDR) imaging techniques can dramatically improve exposure across the entire field of view, boosting highlight, midtone, and shadow saturation. Utilizing tone mapping techniques allows for increased tonality and apparent definition across an image, often yielding hyperrealistic results. The workshop will explore how to use high dynamic range imaging as an observational tool that ultimately allows for clearer image results as well as understanding the drawbacks and utility in using such techniques.

Jay's searingly clear capture of urban art and decay in Miami: Death of a Warehouse

Don't miss this amazing workshop. Register: www.gigapixelscience.org

GigaPan for Educators

We are very lucky to have Pittsburgher and Propel-Braddock Hills charter school Principal Joe Oliphant joining us to discuss his use of Gigapan technology in k-12 education.

Mr Oliphant has been a classroom teacher for seven years in various grade levels. He was the Director of Technology Integration for two years before moving to his current position as a Principal. As a member of the Gigapan Dialogue project, Joe received a deeper understanding of how this technological tool can easily be embedded into the classroom with a focus on instruction, writing, and project-based learning.

Workshop participants will be exposed to various technology integration techniques to be used in various classrooms no matter what subject area. This workshop will provide examples of other Web 2.0 tools to use in conjunction with the Gigapan.org site and will be a hands-on discussion where project-based learning approaches will be reviewed.

GigaPanning Geology

Just another one of our amazing workshops to be presented this November as part of the Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging for Science. Ron Schott of Fort Hays State University will present. Ron is one of the original pilot scientists in the Fine Outreach for Science Fellows program and has worked hard to push the limits of GigaPanning since the fall of 2007, particularly as applied to geology. He was among the pioneers in anaglyph GigaPanning, GigaPan guided audio tours, petrographic gigaphotomicrographs, and currently has more public gigapixels on the GigaPan.org site than anyone else (>620 gigapixels in >550 GigaPans).

His workshop will focus on the application of GigaPanning to geologic research and education. Participants will explore some of the existing applications of GigaPanning in geology (e.g. field site documentation, GigaPan-based visual correlation of outcrops/specimens, macro-GigaPans, petrographic microGigaPans, etc.) and discuss future directions in geologic GigaPanning. Examples of classroom pedagogy and research use of GigaPans will be offered to spark the discussion.

See you in November, Ron!

Mary Nichols takes on Buffelgrass

Fine Gigapixel conference committee member Mary Nichols, USDA-ARS Southwest Watershed Research Center, has been using the GigaPan to document Buffelgrass.

Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) is a non-native grass that threatens the Sonoran Desert ecosystem because it out competes native plants for water and nutrients and it presents a fire hazard in an ecosystem that is not fire adapted. The use of aerially applied herbicide is being tested as a control method is being tested in the Tucson Mountains through a coordinated effort among Federal and Local Agencies, the University of Arizona, and the non-profit Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center.

Buffelgrass is found in steep rocky sites that are difficult to access for both treatment and monitoring to assess the effectiveness of treatments. Sequences of high resolution landscape photos are being taken with the GigaPan system to document the herbicide treatments and research is underway to develop new methods for monitoring treatment effects. Interpretations from the photos will be compared with measurements taken at ground sites. Research is underway by Mary Nichols, Mike Crimmins, and Travis Bean to develop quantitative methods for interrogating GigaPan images.