: abstract :
p a n o p t I c o n ∞ is
a photography website that seeks to redefine what a Panorama is, by reimagining how they are created.
p a n o p t I c o n ∞ is
also the software that will power this new way of seeing things.
a photography website that seeks to redefine what a Panorama is, by reimagining how they are created.
p a n o p t I c o n ∞ is
also the software that will power this new way of seeing things.
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This is all achievable via software, using editing capabilities (that will be) available on phone or laptop.
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This isn't as simple as writing some code. It involves a lot of details and moving parts, history (of photography) and a new way of thinking about what a panorama is - and could become.
It's complicated. To understand how the current panorama setting on your cellphone works it helps to know the history of photography, the panorama, and movies. (Please see content under the " ~ " tab. Lot's of interesting info. Be sure to check out the Lytro Camera.) In summary, given the technology available at the time it was pretty genius. The camera for a panorama had a moving lens that rotated around the <light sensitive media> - which was wrapped around the outside of a cylinder at the center. So of course, the picture must start at a compass-point and end at the same point, 360 degrees later - or you would'd get double exposure (albeit of the same image). And really, you've turned a complete circle, why keep going? |
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So of course, when your camera is in the panorama setting, the picture must start at a compass-point - and end at the same point 360 degrees later.
You're told to keep the horizon line steady (to reduce error) and to slow down (also to reduce error, a lot of data processing going on here). When you take a panorama with your phone, you are rotating the lens around the <light sensitive media - the little chip> at the center of the circle. But why? Especially now that Technology has made the "traditional" panorama model obsolete. |
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There's no reason you couldn't move the lens in any direction you wanted.
You could even point the camera out the window of a train for example, and let the scenery roll past. (as above.) |
Look at how the trees glitch as the AI struggles to render reality.
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Above is a panorama I made by moving the camera over my table in one continuous "take." I did not edit it other than to crop out the light source. The panorama setting on your phone is mostly concerned with avoiding the errors and glitches ("Artifacts"). I find them aesthetically pleasing. |
How did I move the camera to record this impossible image?
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So, my first point is merely a paradigm shift - a Panorama need no longer be tethered to a cylindrical model.
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So what? |
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So, perhaps not a patentable idea, but certainly novel.
And it's the first piece of the panopticon puzzle. It's a whole new way of thinking about the panorama process. The repercussions could be huge. For example, it means a panorama can be as long (wide) as you want. Endless even (how much memory do you have?). That's why there's an infinity symbol on the logo. It also means you can move the camera around in any direction while filming a panorama. I say "filming a panorama" on purpose, because a panorama is a unique hybrid, a mash-up of a photograph and a movie. |
Drive-by-shooting: hold the camera steady and film as the scenery moves past.
~ A new definition of Road Tripping. |
"PANORAMA" covers a wide territory
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What exactly is a panorama?
That's a good question - with multiple correct answers. Panorama - pan·o·ram·a - panəˈramə - noun: - An unbroken view of the whole region surrounding an observer the tower offers a wonderful panorama of Prague. ~ A complete survey or presentation of a subject or sequence of events* the galleries will offer a full panorama of 20th-century art. ~ A picture or photograph containing a wide view. [Wide-Format | Landscape] - A photo taken (or cropped to) an aspect ratio of 10:1 [ W:H ]. (Or thereabouts.) - A photo taken in an 360-degree, outward-facing arc - A series of photos taken around an arc and manually/digitally stitched together later. (Current Fine Art Landscape Photographers) - A series of photos taken around an arc and digitally stitched together - automatically - and almost instantly (The PANORAMA setting on my iPhone) *Precisely ! - a panorama is: a Complete Survey of a Sequence of Events |
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So, for the purposes of this discussion, a Panorama is a (digital) photograph that will (probably) have a very wide ratio (e.g. 10:1).
And, furthermore, this photograph (the "final image") will be comprised of multiple photographs that have been digitally stitched together. |
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There are two ways this can be achieved; manually and with AI.
Both methods are digital, and manipulate multiple images, but the manual method lets you have more control over the process much more time-intensive. Originally, a Panorama was a single, continuous exposure (around 360 °). But now, "Large Format" photographers take multiple exposures and use sophisticated Image-Stitching software to create a final output. They start by taking pictures with the camera on a tripod, rotating slightly - from the same point - in an arc before taking the next shot, taking successive exposures - each one overlapping both the previous and the next picture taken (by half).* |
* This is because the center of the image is the sharpest, least distorted - because a lens is essentially a section of a sphere. |
But now, the Panorama setting takes care of everything.
A Point+Shoot Pano, assembled right before your eyes.
It takes multiple images that overlap and stitches them together - on the fly.
In fact, what you see in the "viewfinder," will transform as the camera moves,
the software is adapting, changing its mind about the final outcome of this panoramic movie.
A Point+Shoot Pano, assembled right before your eyes.
It takes multiple images that overlap and stitches them together - on the fly.
In fact, what you see in the "viewfinder," will transform as the camera moves,
the software is adapting, changing its mind about the final outcome of this panoramic movie.
Image Stitching is how overlapping images are joined together.
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Image on left: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rochester_NY.jpg from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_stitching
Image on right: https://pyimagesearch.com/2018/12/17/image-stitching-with-opencv-and-python/
Image on right: https://pyimagesearch.com/2018/12/17/image-stitching-with-opencv-and-python/
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A "Photograph" is a singe exposure of an image that has been recorded on some media. Traditionally, on a plastic negative (which needed to be "developed" and then later printed on paper, also with some photo-chemical process).
But now, a Photograph can be something produced and viewed solely in the Digital realm. And the percentage of images produced on any given day that are printed out, actually realized as a tangible item, must be under 10%.* But now, when a photo is printed, the options can be on pretty much anything - from archival, acid-free paper to aluminum. * Random guess |
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A "Movie" is
- a series of photographs - each image displayed one after the other - and displayed in the same frame. Which is also a good way to describe a panorama. Except that a panorama has no fixed width. But you know what I mean. And both ways. That's why I think of a Panorama as hybrid between a Movie and a Photograph. It's really both at once. A single frame from a Movie is called a "Still." AKA a "Photograph." To watch a movie is to view thousands of photos one-after-the-other very quickly. The movie camera records space and time passing as the camera moves - and as the action moves within the field of vision of the camera lens. In the end, you need to "project" the image-sequence over time to see the movement. |
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A "Panorama" is also a series of photographs - with each image displayed one after the other
- and displayed - side-by-side - in the same (very wide) frame.
- and displayed - side-by-side - in the same (very wide) frame.
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Recording a Panorama on my iPhone, the camera lens moves over time and space as it captures one-photo-after-another - and stitching them in sequence, immediately.
Insight But all of these images have been stitched together - each to the next. Meaning, that to see a Panorama is to view (small slices of) hundreds of photos all in a row, and side-by-side - and all at once. You can watch a movie on fast-forward, but you can't watch the whole thing at a glance. When you look at a Panorama, you've watched an movie in a second A Photograph traps a moment of space and time, "amberizes" a fraction of a minute. A Panorama captures multiple slices of space and time. And how long it takes to capture the movement of the lens, to "film the panorama/movie" could be a fraction of a minute, five minutes, or 12 hours... Every Panorama is a Time-Lapse Movie, covering as much (or as little) time as desired. It shows you something that a single photograph just isn't able to reproduce. That something is time and space captured in a way that you can view it all in completion - instantly - without taking the equivalent passage of time it took to film it. And regardless of how much time it took to make the exposure(s). A Panorama is a Motion Picture that shows movement - yet does not move. a Movie Still? More like a Still Movie. |
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Above taken by moving camera counter-clockwise, from right to left, where the bridge starts.
The same bridge can be seen on approach, through the driver's window, behind, to left of passenger, in rearview mirror...
When taking a Panopticon Panorama, you can move the camera in any way desired.
And, the final width/length of the panorama can be as long as you'd like
(easily achieved digitally) - the only real limit being available memory.
Wouldn't that be interesting?
A still photograph that never ended.
A Pano-Ellipsis...
(Suspension Points of Disbelief)
A Panorama is more than a novelty-gimmick,
more than a Photograph, and more than a Movie.
It is like both at once - and unlike either.
The whole, the sum of the parts, is greater.
I think the potential of the Panorama has yet to be fully explored.
I also think the ideas I have will help push what's possible.
The same bridge can be seen on approach, through the driver's window, behind, to left of passenger, in rearview mirror...
When taking a Panopticon Panorama, you can move the camera in any way desired.
And, the final width/length of the panorama can be as long as you'd like
(easily achieved digitally) - the only real limit being available memory.
Wouldn't that be interesting?
A still photograph that never ended.
A Pano-Ellipsis...
(Suspension Points of Disbelief)
A Panorama is more than a novelty-gimmick,
more than a Photograph, and more than a Movie.
It is like both at once - and unlike either.
The whole, the sum of the parts, is greater.
I think the potential of the Panorama has yet to be fully explored.
I also think the ideas I have will help push what's possible.
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When your camera automates the photo-stitching for your panorama,
it makes a lot of decisions - and assumptions - about what it thinks you want to see in the end. In particular, it wants to avoid errors or "artifacts." When your camera auto-stitches your panorama on the fly, it takes overlapping photos - and discards the data of the unused overlap. There are no do-overs. But when you stitch your own panoramas (with software, on your computer, after you've taken the pictures) you have more control over the process - and you have all your original photos still intact - and available for as many do-overs as desired. |
The URL for this site is stitchglitch.com for a reason. I find these Artifacts to be endlessly entertaining. Others find them disturbing. Holiday snaps by H. P. Lovecraft and Francis Bacon. |
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Vision
With the Photo-Stitching software, the manual control over the final outcome and retaining the full and original image dataset are great - but this method lacks the convenience of Auto-Stitch. When your phone/camera discards the overlap footage, it's a shame, it's the equivalent of the film edits that end up on the cutting room floor. (Done because it saves memory space.) I want to be able to take my Panorama exactly as I do now. I want the Auto-Stitch to operate the same as it does now (and to deliver what it deems to be the optimal patchwork). And then, I want to be able to start the Auto-Stitch process over again - but this time, I want to have the power to change all of the various settings that the AI had previously "adjusted" (whatever those parameters are), I want slider controls, and to be able to select the "comparison points" manually. I want to have all the control(s) that the manual software provides - plus, the full dataset (all the original photos) available, and the ability to run (and re-run) in Auto-Stitch mode - but AFTER I've twiddled the parameters manually. Could (some of) these auto-stitching parameters be adjusted before shooting the panorama? There should be a baseline setting to reset to when things get too far gone. However, two issues must be resolved first in order to achieve the goal. First of all, phones don't have enough memory to store all the full-photo datasets of multiple panoramas. The solution: an external (battery powered) hard drive connected to the phone via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Or it should be possible to use iCloud to store, if the phone can upload fast enough? [Note: just checked... as of 07/24, iPhone 14 and 15 Pro Max have up to 1T storage. Which should be plenty. But I got my iPhone certified/pre-owned and it was still expensive. And I got the smallest memory (another way to save $). So, an external hard drive - and/or maybe to (the external hard drive on) a laptop (possible, but bulkier/heavier)? Second, the convenience of Auto-Stitch running in the background on your phone is an amazing accomplishment. But the ability to adjust parameters - and to access the full image datasets - will require a laptop/desktop setup (and multiple monitors and a mouse would be nice too). So, not an issue exactly, as much as a realistic practicality - probably too complicated to adjust on a phone. But hey, if that could work, OK, great. And if not, having to be at a desk is worth the tradeoff to be able to do this at all. |
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After you take a "regular" photo on your phone, you can adjust 15 different parameters, starting with a "magic wand" (the Auto-Correct Feature), followed by Exposure, Brilliance, Highlights, etc. I want the equivalent control over the Auto-Stitching system. Please. 
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And that's the big idea
p a n o p t i c o n ∞ is
software for Panoramas, plus hardware
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Brand Extensions + Enhancements
Software: Panopticon∞ Panorama The main purpose of the PANOPTICON ∞ app is to give you manual control over auto-stitch process. It saves all of the full image files. It auto-stitches a "First Draft" version. It provides manual control of various panorama parameters - and then lets you re-run the auto-stitch, repeatedly. But the PANOPTICON ∞ app will have other features, do even more, and not just software. Software: Live Panorama Set-up: Take a Panorama now, and you'll see the image's progress displayed across the middle portion of the phone's screen. > > > Meanwhile, the field of view being filmed is displayed above and below the panorama being stitched before your eyes. At right, you can see the panorama is about half-way through (having captured 180° so far). The arrow and yellow line (and instructions like "Slow Down") are there to help guide you for the perfect 360°-level-horizon-panorama experience. That's Fine. Nice results. I take plenty of "normal" panoramas myself. But I'm less interested in perfection. It's the artifacts I appreciate. When I take a Panorama, my goal is to overwhelm the software, make it struggle to cope. I anticipate that it to fail. I move the camera erratically when filming a Panorama, and the image in the "Panorama-Progress-Bar" that has been taking shape will often change the image it has already stitched - it re-stitches the image - and as I watch. < This is exactly the kind of control I want. Stitch it one way, it will look like this, restitch it with altered parameters, and you'll get a different result. > Punch Line: "Live Panorama" is a digital recording of the full screen image while the Panorama is being filmed. It would run as long as the Panorama took to expose all of the individual shots. The file is basically a Movie about the making of a Panorama (which is a different kind of movie). This should be relatively easy to accomplish. (I mean, for somebody other than myself...) Software: Ambient∞ The PANOPTICON ∞ app has an "Ambient" setting that records the surrounding sounds for the duration of the exposure(s) required to film the Panorama. Ambient∞ is how you hear a PANOPTICON ∞ Pano. Sound seems like a pretty obvious enhancement to me, especially as I consider a panorama to be more like a movie than a photograph. I expect 99% of the time, my panoramas will be viewed on a screen, meaning the soundtrack source is likely not an issue. But if a panorama can have sound, then why not any soundtrack you wanted, of any length? A "regular" picture with the ambient sound would be an Apple "Live Photo" without motion. Except a Live Photo is really just a short video (and shrewd marketing) - and not a photograph. Whereas a panorama - with ambient sound - would be a "Still Movie." But a normal photo with sound added "jut because you can" - really? Well, OK, but why? How long would it be? As long as the exposure, a fraction of a second? Longer? The ambient sounds at time of creation or a soundtrack? Would that be a multi-media installation? I'd like sound on only some of my panoramas - but not many. I shoot a panorama like I'm making a movie - and it takes a certain amount of time to film one. I turn slowly in arc across my back yard. As I pan- sometimes moving very slowly - across my back yard, the birds are chirping, the frogs and insects make noise. If that arc takes 45 seconds or 4 minutes, that's how long the recording would be. But the panorama could be very wide. Personally, I wouldn't want an alternate soundtrack. I'm also curious to see how others would use this feature. Sofware/Hardware: "ViewFinder∞" The PANOPTICON ∞ app transmits the phone's full-screen image to a small video monitor that hangs from the visor of a hat in front of one eye (with barn doors to fight glare). Seems like a pretty obvious solution, but I couldn't dig one up online. I did find this Dick Tracy device, but it's only good as an example of the screen size... > > > It has "48 CH" (not bluetooth), has DVR (unnecessary) Software/Hardware: "Retina∞" Is a hand-held camera (made possible by the ViewFinder). The PANOPTICON ∞ app transmits an optical input signal via Bluetooth from a remote, battery-powered lens to the auto-stitch AI (and switches the input source from the phone's built-in lenses to the remote lens.) An app that can switch the input source is a big idea. Probably would need Apple's consent, or more likely, they'd develop it themselves. But the hardware side has potential to be even bigger. Hardware would be multiple models/versions of cameras, from tiny "Nanny-cams" on up to a minimalist frame to mount DSLR lenses - and everything between. Plus accessories like lights, mounts, image stabilizers. You'd also be able to select the "Image Sensor Chip" you want in your camera - potentially even switch them out like you might change lenses. I'd start with a model line that has the form-factor of a 2-battery flashlight (in a range; AAA, AA, C, the D's too big) with an aluminum body that opens in the middle, no light in front, instead, a lens-cluster, like the back of a phone (some versions would have just one, others, 5 or 6). A step up, and the end opposite the lens-cluster has a mount for interchangeable lenses (like an SLR camera, but with 2" diameter* optics). The lenses available would be the equivalent of whats available for 35mm, only scaled down. *Ultimately, the sizes of the Image Sensor Chips will determine how small the lens-end side of the camera can be. I want all this for taking panoramas - but there's no reason this couldn't be used to record video. Nutshell: Remote screen view means you don't have to hold the phone so you can frame the shot, and it's visible even in bright sun. Remote lens allows easier movement - and can be unobtrusive with optical quality better than what's on the phone. Your phone is the brains - and PANOPTICON∞ gives you convenience and more creative freedom - in the filming and in post-production. |
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Wearable Watch 2.6" Monitor & DVR w/ 48CH 5.8GHz Receiver
$50 - and out of stock https://www.getfpv.com/boscam-fpv200-wearable-watch-2-6-monitor-dvr-w-48ch-5-8ghz-receiver.html>Boscam FPV200 
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Project:
"Transmogrify"
With existing manual auto-stitching software, you feed individual digitized images in and adjust their overlap and where/how the images will join.
With your phone, the software automatically takes multiple pictures, overlaps them and auto-stitches them in sequence.
With PANOPTICON∞, you have manual control over the parameters of the picture-joinery - and the convenience of auto-stitch.
For the Transmogrify project, I want to feed the PANOPTICON∞ app frames from a movie as the pictures to be overlapped.
(First up: Wizard of Oz.)
Every tenth frame sounds about right. The auto-stitch software would produce the panorama, transmuting the images from a motion picture into a still image that is a composite of the time and space depicted in the move.
I have no idea how this will look, but I really want to find out.
Every cut will be too abrupt a difference and it will glitch. So, probably a good thing then...
And how wide would a panorama be that contained every tenth frame of a movie that runs an hour and forty-two minutes.
You'd have to print in pieces.
"Transmogrify"
With existing manual auto-stitching software, you feed individual digitized images in and adjust their overlap and where/how the images will join.
With your phone, the software automatically takes multiple pictures, overlaps them and auto-stitches them in sequence.
With PANOPTICON∞, you have manual control over the parameters of the picture-joinery - and the convenience of auto-stitch.
For the Transmogrify project, I want to feed the PANOPTICON∞ app frames from a movie as the pictures to be overlapped.
(First up: Wizard of Oz.)
Every tenth frame sounds about right. The auto-stitch software would produce the panorama, transmuting the images from a motion picture into a still image that is a composite of the time and space depicted in the move.
I have no idea how this will look, but I really want to find out.
Every cut will be too abrupt a difference and it will glitch. So, probably a good thing then...
And how wide would a panorama be that contained every tenth frame of a movie that runs an hour and forty-two minutes.
You'd have to print in pieces.
