Microsoft Photosynth Goes to Work: Integrates With Virtual Earth
Microsoft announced today that it will now give its commerical partners the option to mash up Virtual Earth and Photosynth to create immersive 3D photo experiences. In order to facilitate this, Microsoft also announced …
Context & Ripple Effects
The move extends a line Microsoft has been walking since April 2007, when it laid out the case for bringing real-world imagery into Virtual Earth rather than keeping the map abstract. Pairing that with the March 2007 InfoNow alliance around business-location search, the pattern is clear: Microsoft is trying to make Virtual Earth a canvas for commercial content, not just navigation.
Photosynth is the newest ingredient in that stack. By opening the combination of Virtual Earth and Photosynth to commercial partners on May 7, 2009, Microsoft shifts from showcasing the technology to recruiting third parties to build with it.
First-order effects
- Commercial partners can now build applications that mash up Virtual Earth maps with Photosynth's immersive 3D photo experiences, turning Microsoft's research-stage technology into a component other businesses ship against.
Second-order effects
- Partners already anchored to Virtual Earth through location-based offerings — such as the InfoNow business-search collaboration from 2007 — gain a way to differentiate with photographic 3D content layered onto map-based services.
Third-order effects
- If partner-built mashups take hold, the value of a mapping platform starts depending on the volume of contributed imagery rather than only licensed base maps, pushing Microsoft further toward treating Virtual Earth as an ecosystem play instead of a product.
The trend: Web mapping platforms are absorbing consumer-captured 3D imagery as first-class content, with vendors courting commercial developers to populate their canvases.