[Click here to explore a larger image on the Gigapan site]
Ancient people created beautiful and mysterious images on Tumamoc rocks. Recently humans have drawn, painted, and photographed on the Hill. Now there is a Gigapan. I’m working on a Gigapan that includes some rock art that the viewer can look for.
I have a Gigapan robotic camera that I’m experimenting with, on loan from the robotics lab at Carnegie Mellon University. The technology comes out of the software and hardware developed for the Mars landers. The idea behind it is simple: the robotic camera mount takes hundreds, even thousands of overlapping images of a scene which the photographer can compose. Back in the lab, the Gigapan software stitches the shots into one huge megapixel image that can be explored and zoomed into much like Google Earth. The landscape above uses 70 snapshots from a cheap point and shoot camera. You can read more about Gigapan here.
This was the first image that I got to work out. In return for the loan of the equipment, the robotics lab asked me to develop a project showing a use of the Gigapan in engaging the community with the landscape here. This type of technology fits well with my ideas of environmental education on Tumamoc: allowing people to explore on their own and find entry points where they can connect with the place.
If anyone has an idea and would like to collaborate on a project using the Gigapan, please contact me. I will be doing many more of these.
Wow, this is impressive…my first inclination was to voyeur the interiors of office buildings downtown but then the saguaro blossoms beckoned; floral intricacies are far more interesting-
Very interested in your approach to community engagement and the ideas and ways for people to connect around place through multiple entry points.
We’re using the landscape images to engage people in discussion and visioning around land use a the shale gas industry comes to town.
Keep us posted on the project progress.