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

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!

We're super excited for this panel at the Gigapixel Conference

On November 12th, we're going to have a super cool panel on micro/macro&nano Gigapixel images.

This panel explores how the application of gigapixel imaging technology can meet these research needs and allow for new discoveries in the microscopic realm. Participants will discuss the design and implementation of a few different instrumental adaptations that enable automatic mosaic capture of images through optical microscopes, scanning electron microscopes, and macro photography. This includes a discussion of motion control, focus stacking, and image stitching techniques currently used in our prototype Micro GigaPan devices.

The panel will be composed of:

• Gene Cooper, President, Four Chambers Studio
• Rich Gibson / Thinker / Carnegie Mellon University
• Jay Longson / Researcher / UC Santa Cruz /
• Richard Palmer
• John Rawlins / Curator / Carnegie Museum of Natural History
• Randy Sargent / Carnegie Mellon University

xRez+workshop=just one awesome part of the Fine Gigapixel Conference

The first ever Gigapixel workshop will include some very fascinating workshops by some very amazing people. xRez Studio, headed by Eric Hansen and Greg Downing, is a creative imaging studio pioneering new methods to capture and convey natural, urban, and imagined landscapes, striving to educate, illuminate, and persuade. Eric Hansen, CEO, is also an Associate Professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Eric is a visual effects designer specializing in the creation of digital environments. Greg Downing, President, also teaches at Gnomon School for Visual Effects and has published professional training DVDs on photogrammetry and panoramic stitching. Greg specializes in image-based 3D technologies and computational photography techniques.

On Friday, November 12th, Eric and Greg will lead a hands-on workshop called On-Site Data Acquisition Technique. Participants will learn common techniques used in the feature film visual effects field to acquire information from real-life locations that will later be the basis of 3d reconstructions for visual communication or study. The focus will be on photographic techniques, such as HDRI capture, gigapixel panoramic background photography, photogrammetry for set reconstruction, and polynomial texture mapping for cultural heritage artifacts. Site survey techniques and the recording of lens information and distortion will be demonstrated as well as a brand new technique for 3d point cloud data capture based on Microsoft Photosynth software.

Sound exciting? We think so too. Sign-up to join us at the Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging for Science. It is not too late to register: www.gigapixelscience.org