June 1, 2010 -- A high-tech robotic device allows user to explore images in excruciating detail in a thousand tiny snapshots. The interactive above, of a Cherry Gall Azure butterfly, demonstrates how this technology takes photography to a whole new level. Play around with it and try it for yourself.
The tech works with "GigaPan" rigs -- three different high-tech robotic camera mounts that attach to most digital cameras and microscopes. The robot is named "GigaPan," "giga-" for the billion or more pixels it can produce.
It all starts with one large photograph. The robotic camera snaps a series of tiny high-res images as it zooms in on different sections of the large photo. Then it puts all of the tiny sections back together.
Scientists can to zoom in and out and explore tiny sections in incredible detail, from insect hairs to an archaeological dig site to a crater on Mars.
SLIDE SHOW: Take a tour of the GigaPan team's work and get up close and personal with the nano side of life.
GigaPan technology was developed by Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute's CREATE Lab and the NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group, with support from Google.The group's website allows researchers to share their work and for users to explore them, and it was also created as part of the Global Connection Project. Currently, over 100 scientists worldwide use GigaPan and several thousand photos live on the site.
PlanetGreen.com: The GigaPan team presented their work at Maker Faire 2010.
Interactive Credit: Specimen provided courtesy of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Produced by Gene Cooper, Four Chambers Studio, as part of the Small World Explorations Project.
By Lauren Effron
comments ( )