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3D Mars Scenes Recreated From Photos

Posted by timothy on from the back-formation dept.

Hoon Mihn Fao links to this BBC article about Microsoft Research scientists generating 3D models based on pictures beamed back from the Mars rovers. It begins "Using techniques originally applied to paintings, the researchers have written software that works out what flat images would look like from different viewpoints. The result is a navigable 3D model created from one or more pictures snapped by the Mars buggies."

3 of 24 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Where's the video? by Uncle_Al · · Score: 5, Informative

    Look there:
    Pictures and Videos

    Have fun...

  2. More Mars stereo goodness... by TheAngryArmadillo · · Score: 3, Informative

    A coworker of mine and I wrote a script to download and generate every possible 3D image from NASA's MER website. It goes through and finds all matching left and right images then makes them into an anaglyph.

    If you've got your red/blue glasses you can see them here. We update them with new images every morning. Some of the images are useless but there are also a bunch that NASA never generates for us. They are separated by rover and Sol.

  3. Re:NASA did this from day one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Grandparent said:

    So, NASA has been taking stereo images since the beginning and making true 3D models, and now Microsoft has figured out how to make fake stereo images and fake 3D models?... Um, nice step backwards?

    Parent said:

    Try reading further down the page. They are taking a single image and building a steroscopic view.

    Try understanding what you read. :) Making a stereoscopic view from a single image is a step backwards. They're interpolating to "resolve" information that doesn't really exist. It's like when crime dramas zoom in about 10x and then magically clean up the image to see details that were not captured on a security camera! If you want to extract depth, you need two pictures taken from separate locations. Otherwise you're just making educated guesses.

    X...Y...Z
    ....w....

    A.......B

    Picture from camera A: X...Yw..Z
    Picture from camera B: X..wY...Z

    Please don't tell me you honestly think you can tell that w is in front of Y just by processing the picture from camera A (unless you know the exact dimensions of the WXYZ elements). You need the additional information provided by camera B. Consider a picture where you see a tall person and a short building. You might assume the person is standing in front of the building, but what if it's a miniature building in the foreground? Unless you have a 2nd picture, you can't know for sure.