Google's new timelapse technology lets you take photos to the next level.
Last week, Microsoft unveiled their Hyperlapse technology, which converted shaky footage into short timelapse videos that are a lot easier to watch. Now Google is getting in on the game. The tech giant recently announced a partnership with the University of Washington that would make timelapsing a lot easier.
The University of Washington's report on the technology describes the technology as follows:
First, we cluster 86 million photos into landmarks and popular viewpoints. Then, we sort the photos bydate and warp each photo onto a common viewpoint. Finally, westabilize the appearance of the sequence to compensate for lightingeffects and minimize flicker.
Our resulting time-lapses show diverse changes in the world's most popular sites, like glaciers shrinking, skyscrapers being constructed, and waterfalls changing course.
The University of Washington researchers call this new method of photo collection "timelapse mining." While timelapse technology seems to just be an amusing way to view your photos, timelapse mining holds great potential for the study of science and history. It's a great way to organize visual data that preset-day cameras collect over an extended period of time, and it also provides a new way for scientists to present their collective data in an quick and interesting fashion.
At this time, only a few researchers have access to timelapse mining. Google plans to release the code to the public in the near future. Readers can learn about the project here.
