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If you use Windows XP or Vista and are willing to download and run an installation package, you will now be able to use Microsoft’s new Photosynth service that creates “synths” — scenes that automatically position groups of images as they would appear in real life, letting users zoom around and explore environments from many perspectives.  You’ll need a Windows Live ID, as well.  The Seattle P-I has a detailed story.

The program runs inside Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2 and 3 only, and your photos will be available for the public to view, findable through the Photosynth search tool.  The program is a combination of technologies from Microsoft Research, the University of Washington and Seadragon Software, a Seattle-based startup that Microsoft acquired in 2006.  Up until now, it has only been a technology preview.

“It’s a cool product — if it works” as demonstrated, said Matt Rosoff, analyst at the independent research firm Directions on Microsoft. “I think once people see how it works, it’s interesting enough and cool enough that a lot of people will be attracted.”

The new version of Photosynth comes with the ability to rotate a scene on a circular axis to see an object from all the angles at which it was photographed.  The underlying technology matches up the commonalities in photos to figure out the “right way” to present them together on the screen.

“The idea behind Photosynth isn’t to stitch together a perfect 3D model of a particular scene.  Rather, it’s to let people browse and view photos in a way that gives a sense for the broader surroundings.  When one photo is selected, others are shown around it, but slightly blurred.  The individual photos aren’t altered.”