Software Converts 2D Images To 3D

eldavojohn writes "Dr. David McKinnon from Queensland University of Technology, has recently launched a site that turns your sets of 2D images into 3D bump maps by way of 8 years of his research. The catch is that you need to have between five and fifteen photos of your object and they must overlap at least 80 to 90 percent. So with a video of an object, one might be able to extract every nth frame and use this site to generate a 3D model. Doctor McKinnon said, 'The full version of this software would be great for realistic learning simulators and training software, where you want everything to look like the real thing. This technology could also be great for museums wishing to turn their display objects into 3D images that can be viewed online. We are even looking into making 3D models of cows to save farmers spending thousands of dollars transporting their cattle vast distances to auction sites, allowing for an eBay style auction website for cattle. Films, animations and computer games could also benefit, since 3D film making is taking over from the traditional 2D method of filmmaking. Another application is allowing people to create 3D models of their own face to use on their avatar in computer games or 3D social networking sites such as Second Life or Sony's Home.' Physorg has more details."

Comments

Why bother

[MrMr]

Cows are spherical, as every mathematician knows.

Re:Why bother

[DriedClexler]

Every mathematician knows you can't get a 3D view from a 2D one. Like the old joke says ...

Three long-time friends meet up in Scotland. One is a biologist, one's a physicist, and one's a mathematician. As they're driving away from the airport into the Scottish countryside, they see a brown cow off in the distance.

The biologist says, "Wow, that's amazing! All the cows in Scotland are brown!"

The physicist replies, "No, all we really know is that some cows in Scotland are brown."

The mathematician replies, "No, all we really know is: there is at least one cow in Scotland, and this side is brown."

Mr Santax

[santax]

is uploading about 15000 pics of Halle Berry as we speak. Man I'm gonna have a blast tonight!

Re:VERY, VERY

[Anonymous Coward]

This guy has wasted his life. ... There are dozens of programs that do this for various prices. Even better, they only require ONE image.

Okay, smart-ass, here's your ONE image.

Re:They have this in DS9

[mistermocha]

That's nothing! CSI Miami takes crappy security cam shots from hundreds of feet away to turn a speck that covers eight pixels into a full 3D model of the killer every week, and that's in THIS century and planet!

Re:VERY, VERY

[Hognoxious]

It's quite possible to build one, but it only works from one angle.

If you were in the tree (where the girl's left arm is pointing) you'd see something like:

  /
\|

Thanks to you...

[Anonymous Coward]

...I now know that Chocolate milk is imported from Scotland. Thanks for the enlightenment. :D

Do the Shroud dude!

[tjstork]

If you are really going to try and take your technology mainstream, you may as well go and get a bunch of Shroud of Turin pictures, use your technology to reconstruct Jesus in 3d, and get yourself a guest TV spot on Fox. If your Jesus winds up looking like Peter O'Toole, so much the better!

Re:VERY, VERY

[Inda]

I have mod points but I just had to reply while the laugh is still fresh.

An ASCII picture of a Penrose triangle. Never thought I'd live to see the day. Well done Sir.