Billion-Pixel Image Tool Probes Science Mysteries
Ultra-zoomable GigaPan gives experts "incredible" new perspective.
The system stitches thousands of closeup images together into panoramas of thousand-megapixel resolution, which are hosted at the Gigapan website and viewable from anywhere in the world.
Robotics professor Illah Nourbakhsh's CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University first created the technology, which uses a robotic camera mount, a software package, and a digital camera.
The lab initially received support from NASA's Ames Intelligent Robotics Group and Google to develop the system for Mars-bound rovers.
But in recent years, the team has also crafted an affordable (as low as $300) GigaPan tool and put it in the hands of scientists.
GigaPan workshops have since trained dozens of experts in diverse fields, including many who attended the Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging
