Microsoft presents the technology developed by its Live Labs Division as a radically innovative three-dimensional digital photography service. The utility is designed to reconstruct 3d spaces by conjugating together digital photo collections, mixing them in a volumetric collage whose parameters are independent of photography related metrics such as resolution, exposure and others. "Each photo is processed by computer vision algorithms to extract hundreds of distinctive features, like the corner of a window frame or a door handle. Then, photos that share features are linked together in a web. When a feature's found in multiple images, its 3D position can be calculated. It's similar to depth perception-what your brain does to perceive the 3D positions of things in your field of view based on their images in both of your eyes. Photosynth's 3D model is just the cloud of points showing where those features are in space," reads a message explaining the service's functionality.

Based on Seadragon's technology, Photosynth incorporates digital rendering and zoom capabilities, advanced browsing features, 3D user interface, customizable navigation features and online sharing capabilities. "The Photosynth client shows you the 3D point cloud, but more importantly, it also shows you the original pictures overlaid on the model. Imagine a slide projector placed at each camera position, aimed where the camera was aiming, and projecting the picture that camera took. A screen is placed in the 3D environment at an appropriate distance from the projector. As you move around in the Photosynth environment, projectors turn on and off, giving you a changing perspective on a world built entirely out of the original photos," reads a message posted by Microsoft Live Labs.