It's a new tool from Microsoft that enables photographers to upload photos, but then let other users walk through those photos as though they showed 3D scenes. In some ways, it's close to amazing. Close.
At one level, Microsoft Live Labs' public launch of its Photosynth project is an intriguing test of a commercial software producer's ability to perform supercomputer-style computations as a service for the general public. At another level, it's a clever and somewhat effective scheme for getting more users signed onto Microsoft's Windows Live network, as well as using plentiful amounts of its online storage.
But there are still some lingering questions about the service's practicality and staying power, past its ability to fascinate new users. BetaNews has been putting those questions to the test, in a trial which lasted longer than we initially anticipated.
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