Scientists from the University of Washington’s Graphics and Imaging Laboratory, with the help of over 150,000 Flickr users, managed to create 3D digital models of three different cities.  According to PopSci.com, “each video includes clusters of small diamond shapes, which represent each photographer and his or her vantage point.  ..  The team built a new algorithm that proceeds in two steps — first, by matching the photos by what they had in common, puzzle-style, and then by determining the scene and each photographer’s pose.”  One of the scientists, Steve Seitz: “This is one of the main intellectual challenges here.  We want to see how much of the city can be reconstructed from people’s tourist photos.”

Their next task: to create a 3D rendering of an entire city using at least one million photographs.  So keep taking pictures people, and upload them to your Flickr accounts.  Check out more 3D renderings the team is working on at their YouTube page.  Cool stuff, huh?

[Via Gizmodo; Popsci]