Photosynth from Microsoft Live Labs

Photosynth is a service offered by Microsoft Live Labs meant “to transform regular digital photos into a three-dimensional, 360-degree experience”. By analysing each photo for similarities to the others, and using that data to build a model of where the photos were taken, the application creates a “new visual medium”.

Here’s a 2007 TED Talk by Blaise Aguera y Arcas presenting a demo:

Blaise Aguera y Arcas is working as an architect at Microsoft Live Labs and is the co-creator of Photosynth. The visualization technology Photosynth is based on was originally created by Seadragon - a company he worked for and which was acquired by Microsoft in 2006.

According to Wikipedia, Photosynth was officially released to the public on August 20 2008, when the users were allowed for the first time to upload their images and generate their own Photosynth models.