Searching High and Low

Microsoft Live Labs recently posted a video presentation (see below) highlighting two software projects, Seadragon and Photosynth. Seadragon appears to be a viewing technology that, at the very least, enables users to quickly view a collection of images at macro and micro levels while displaying them with a high degree of clarity.

Just after the first minute of the video (starting at 1:15) check out how the presenter displays a complete ebook edition of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House and how clear the text displays:

I wonder if this will eventually extend beyond image files to include live applications. As a computer user, I could see some benefits of being able to keep multiple applications open simultaneously and have the ability to bounce from one to another without having to add an additional monitor to the desktop.

As a librarian, I wonder if a Seadragon-like application could be used to reformat those “Research by Subject” pages found on many library websites. Instead of clicking from page to page to page, just zoom to your area of interest. Perhaps each row or column could represent a subject area. And instead of links to the databases, why not have a search form ready and waiting. Since the ebook option is already within grasp, the delivery of text-based materials like pathfinders and other handouts is surely a possibility.

Photosynth

Here’s how Microsoft describes the Photosynth project:

The Photosynth Technology Preview is a taste of the newest – and, we hope, most exciting – way to view photos on a computer. Our software takes a large collection of photos of a place or an object, analyzes them for similarities, and then displays the photos in a reconstructed three-dimensional space, showing you how each one relates to the next.

In our collections, you can access gigabytes of photos in seconds, view a scene from nearly any angle, find similar photos with a single click, and zoom in to make the smallest detail as big as your monitor.

Check out the video for a preview of both Seadragon and Photosynth: