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After a short hiatus, TWIP is back and better than ever. This week's photography stories include Microsoft's Photosynth finally opening up to the public (on a limited basis), mapping the world's most photographed locations and an algorithm for creating a professional-yet-fraudulent online portfolio in a matter of minutes.
Above:
Mars, in Glorious B-Movie-Style 3-D
It’s amazing what a splash of blue will do for a picture from the red planet. This week we found out about Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s collection of 3-D photos gathered from its fleet of Mars rovers, and we can’t take our eyes off them.
The anaglyphic pictures show everything from the vast Martian horizons to the individual components on the rovers themselves, which include the endlessly lovable Curiosity rover that launched in 2011, as well as the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, both launched in 2003.
Don’t have a set of 3-D glasses? NASA’s got you covered (assuming you’ve got a printer, red and blue markers and some cellophane) Many of these are panoramic or even 360 degree views from the red planet. Unless you get chosen by Mars One to set up a human colony on the great red rock, this is the closest you’ll get to casting your eyes on another planet’s surface.
Heat Map of the World's Most Photographed Places
Tourists rejoice. A new Google-generated “heat map” showing the most photographed locations on Earth means you’ll know exactly how to get to the most vacation slideshow-worthy spots on the globe.
The map accounts for the top 15,000 most photographed locations in Google’s Panorimo service, where users can submit geotagged photographs for inclusion in Google Earth. New York tops the list, but even a cursory glance shows that Europe is absolutely ablaze with shutter clicks. Locations are viewable down to street level, and are ranked based on the number of shots within a few square miles of the center of a given location.
Each location is linked to the original images, Google’s Street View, its Wikipedia entry and other online resources like a route planner, meaning you’ll never need another tour bus to show you all the photographic hot spots. If, on the other hand, you can’t stand tourists, this map will be useful for showing you where you should avoid.
Instantly Create a Professional Identity Without Lifting a Finger
If you work in the vast online world of professional photography and visual design, getting work often depends on a portfolio that is strong and immediately appealing. It can take years to develop a body of work that immediately conveys your creative and professional identity. Or it can take seconds, if you use a clever algorithm like Pro-Folio, which within seconds can create a completely new professional portfolio page for you.
By mining various online databases, the algorithm combines name and work parameters with a collection of images that together appear to be a genuine professional portfolio; the creators of Pro-Folio say it takes the average user about four minutes before they notice that something isn’t right. They also say the algorithm can generate up to 690,903,803 trillion unique fictional identities -- some of the coding technologies under Pro-Folio's hood are on its information page, adding credence to the claim that it's essentially an open experiment.
A self-described ‘hoax project’ created at the Royal College of Art in London, Pro-folio meant as a proof of concept more than as a genuine way to fool a potential employer. It also raises the issue of how we define identity in a world where we interact online, and whether those identities can be subverted. According to Pro-Folio’s creators, it “questions the nominal authenticity of works, which constructs artists’ and designers’ online identity (i.e. Name, Education, Work, etc).” Even if you were hoping to use it as a way to skip art school, you’ll still have to wait - it’s currently “undergoing some technical changes” and can’t be accessed, but they say it will be back up soon.
Socialmatic Camera Finally Has a Launch Date
We’ve followed the Socialmatic camera for a year and a half now, and so we were excited to hear that the camera is finally supposed to launch this Fall.
Over the course of our coverage there have been moments where we didn’t hear anything for months at a time, which made us doubt the thing would ever make it into consumers' hands. That still might be the case, because you never know with new products, but kudos to founder Antonio De Rosa for getting this far.
The most important turning point came when Polaroid got involved and gave De Rosa the backing he needed. The camera is now called the Polaroid Socialmatic, and all the details we’ve gleaned about the launch come from Polaroid’s website.
Over time the specs on the camera have changed, but as of now the camera is supposed to feature an Android-based operating system that will allow users so upload their photos to social networks via a built-in Wi-Fi connection. The camera will also instantly print 2”x3” photos on ink-free paper using ZINK Zero Ink technology. The front of the device will house a 14-megapixel camera, the back will house a two megapixel camera and users will control the functions on a 4.5” touchscreen.
Viral Polar Vortex Photo Isn’t From the Polar Vortex
Turns out that beautiful photo of a frozen lighthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan that everyone’s been passing around as an example of the ferocity of the recent polar vortex, was actually taken a year ago. You gotta love the internet when it comes to accuracy.
Several stories on reputable websites have now debunked the mistake, but we wonder how many people still think that photo is really from this year’s crazy cold weather.
Our favorite actual photo from the recent cold weather was taken by Anthony Soufflé on January 9, 2014 and shows the sun setting over the skyline of Chicago and the frozen shores of Lake Michigan.
Photosynth 3-D Now Available
Photosynth is software that allows users to stitch multiple photos of the same object or location together to create immersive and interactive composite, and it now works in 3-D. Instead of just being able to pan around the featured image in 2D, users now have the chance to do things like take a full 360-degree, 3-D walk around a particular object or even take a 3-D walk through a scene as if you’re playing a first-person video game.
For the first time they're also allowing a limited amount of users to try making their own Photosynths. It's a first come, first served basis, so sign up now!
