Image experts have long tried to create technologies that would allow us to view an artificial world in a full 3-dimensional view. Computer games have gone 3D from their flat past, and now displays are available that could allow us to view movies of the future in 3D without the need to wear 3D goggles or using expensive virtual reality units. So why should still digital images be left behind?

Making it real

Enter Fotowoosh (http://fotowoosh.com). This service will soon allow you to turn flat digital images into 3D. It manages to put the real back in otherwise lifeless digital images. All you need to do is, upload a digital picture it could be any image, say of your car parked on one side of the road or of your friends standing at a distance. Next, your uploaded image is converted into a 3D image format called VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language). This 3D image can now be downloaded as a Flash widget on to your desktop.

Inner works:

This is how it works: Using VRML and Fotowoosh’s own systems in place, any flat image is broken up into different parts. For instance,
the top area, which could consist of the ceiling or the sky; the middle area which might include the subject; and the bottom part which could comprise of the ground covered in mud, tile or grass. Fotowoosh then fabricates simple ‘pop-up’ 3D models from the flat image.

The system marks the various parts of the image as ground, or sky horizontal or vertical and so on. These different parts are then popped up and finally the image is texture mapped onto the model. What the technology actually tries to determine is the area where the various vertical surfaces such as buildings, cars, towers come into contact with the ground in any particular given image. This information is used to collect details about the depth of those surfaces, thus creating a 3D model. The final result is achieved by simply texture mapping from the original image onto the model.

Coming soon:

Fotowoosh will offer its full service once the site moves out of its beta stage. But currently, you can enjoy the sample images and videos on the site. The end result a 3D world constructed with a simple flat digital image is truly astonishing.
You will require a VRML reader, like Cortona, to view the final VRML files. You can get it from www.parallelgraphics.com/products/cortona.

via TOI