10 ms·

Panoramic, high resolution picture of London

162 points by danielhunt 14y ago

4HTn77NR384oMjH 14y ago
Busy man? http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-64.2875&view.vlookat=17.4529&view.fov=0.2919&imarkerath=-64.2875&imarkeratv=17.4529 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-64.2875&#3...
- 4HTn77NR384oMjH 14y ago
  Im guessing they mechanical turk (https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome) the crud out of these images, taking 3 or 4 photos at the same time of day and if there is a person in the first image then replacing it with the second, i came to this conclusion based on the fact the whole damn city looks like its apocalyptically empty once you get off the ground. None of the office buildings have meetings on and very few windows have people in.
  - jermy 14y ago
    It's on a Sunday, and central London is always genuinely quiet. If you want to find lots of people, look at more touristy places like the Southbank http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-33.2466&view.vlookat=3.5997&view.fov=0.8469&imarkerath=-33.2466&imarkeratv=3.5997 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-33.2466&#3...
film42 14y ago
Can you imagine if google acquired this company for street view?
- Rexxar 14y ago
  BT = "British Telecom", it's not a small start up.
  - ollybee 14y ago
    company != BT company == 360cities.net They already work with google blog.360cities.net/360-panorama-photos-google-earth/
newishuser 14y ago
Wish it had google maps type navigation, wish the images weren't HDRd in post. Other than that it's pretty cool.
hakaaaaak 14y ago
Someone's going to have a nice meal for two or be ringing two incredibly large attention bells: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-56.2662&view.vlookat=25.7578&view.fov=0.2132&imarkerath=-56.2662&imarkeratv=25.7578 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-56.2662&#3...
- dcminter 14y ago
  That's Heal's department store on Tottenham Court Road. So neither, it's just a display of wares for sale.
alanbyrne 14y ago
These things always feel like they pan the reverse way than they should...
- CWIZO 14y ago
  Use keyboard to navigate. It's much better IMO.
- nakedrobot2 14y ago
  Sorry, this panorama uses the original "qtvr" style navigation. Google streetview, maps, and Earth use "click and drag" navigation. There is currently a religious war going on in the pano community about which one is better. I tend to agree that the "click and drag" has become the standard.
  - CamperBob2 14y ago
    I guess I don't get what's so horrible about giving people a choice. This is just a Quake-style mlook implementation at the end of the day, and gamers are used to being able to select the mlook polarity. But no, there has to be a jihad, and somebody has to "win."
dia80 14y ago
Yikes! I live about 2 miles away and I can make out the garden tools on my balcony.
- bhickey 14y ago
  I was able to find my old flat, which was about two miles from BT Tower.
sideproject 14y ago
is it just me? or can you actually spot a human being in this photo? It's an incredible image though!
- shocks 14y ago
  I found some human beings pretty quickly. :)
  - sdoering 14y ago
    Great, great image. Cool technology. But one question kept popping into my head: What if someone was sleeping naked in his/her bedroom? Would it be blurred?
    - madmat 14y ago
      champagne ? :) http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=92.3363&view.vlookat=35.1979&view.fov=0.4070&imarkerath=92.3363&imarkeratv=35.1979 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=92.3363&#38...
shocks 14y ago
Something funky going on here... http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8554&view.vlookat=6.3616&view.fov=3.0874&imarkerath=-96.8554&imarkeratv=6.3616 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8554&#3... I don't remember architecture like this! :P edit: Wrong link. -_- Intended to post upside-down building... edit2: Corrected link.
- shocks 14y ago
  http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-56.2662&view.vlookat=25.7578&view.fov=0.2132&imarkerath=-56.2662&imarkeratv=25.7578 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-56.2662&#3... Also, this guy?
  - jonathan-r 14y ago
    And here he is again (zoom in!): http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-43.8694&view.vlookat=1.6461&view.fov=3.4026&imarkerath=-43.8694&imarkeratv=1.6461 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-43.8694&#3...
- CWIZO 14y ago
  Hmm, if you zoom out there are trees blocking the window. How did they done this?!
  - shocks 14y ago
    Oops. I appear to have paste the wrong link. I intended to post an upside-down building...!
    - hakaaaaak 14y ago
      You have now twice posted what I posted. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5256830 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5256830 I should thank you for your promotion of it! ;)
      - 14y ago
pawelwentpawel 14y ago
It's massive! I couldn't find my bedroom window but I've stumbled upon this guy instead : http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=172.0456&view.vlookat=40.5469&view.fov=0.9885&imarkerath=172.0456&imarkeratv=40.5469 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=172.0456&#3... EDIT: I'm wondering - if Google has to anonymise faces and registration plates on street view, shouldn't BT be doing it too with this high-res panoramic image?
- tobylane 14y ago
  That looks like a setup, the One Show is a simple early evening show.
  - wr1472 14y ago
    next to him is an easter egg if you zoom out slightly http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=169.0923&view.vlookat=42.7815&view.fov=12.0664&imarkerath=169.0923&imarkeratv=42.7815 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=169.0923&#3...
  - wr1472 14y ago
    Yes, there is no shadow around him, unlike the guy walking past. I think it has been photoshopped in.
- nakedrobot2 14y ago
  Google doesn't HAVE to blur faces (except in only about two countries). They do it as a PR gesture, to please people. This has had terrible effects for photographers, who are often told that "they have to blur faces like Google does".
marcusmacinnes 14y ago
A friend of mine Henry Stuart has done some amazing GigaPixel shots of London: http://www.sphericalimages.com/panoramas http://www.sphericalimages.com/panoramas if you like this kind of thing! (Including some 360 degree video: http://www.sphericalimages.com/videos http://www.sphericalimages.com/videos )
petercooper 14y ago
It strikes me how insignificant the River Thames is from there, I imagine most folks not familiar with London would struggle to find it(!)
grabeh 14y ago
http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-164.6520&view.vlookat=21.4926&view.fov=4.2410&imarkerath=-164.6520&imarkeratv=21.4926 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-164.6520&#... Interesting to see a shot capturing the progress of a car which helps determine the rate at which the images were taken.
- devonbarrett 14y ago
  Wouldn't you have to know its speed?
  - grabeh 14y ago
    Of course! I walk past that road everyday so could make an educated guess at 40km/hr. Mind you, my maths skills are poor so I won't be about to start delving any deeper into the calculation!
    - nakedrobot2 14y ago
      It was more than one image per second, I can tell you that much. I forgot exactly how quick it was.
Pr1sm 14y ago
It strikes me that in such a densely populated environment there is so much under utilised space on the roof tops. Lots of opportunities for sheds and roof gardens.
- Peroni 14y ago
  I think this guy has done a pretty sweet job: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=171.2592&view.vlookat=19.2424&view.fov=2.6562&imarkerath=171.2592&imarkeratv=19.2424 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=171.2592&#3...
joell 14y ago
This would be the ultimate "Where's Waldo?"
- danielmagnusson 14y ago
  It is actually a "Where's Waldo?" in the picture. Find a big chicken called Buzby, win ipad and such for UK people only.. ;p
- LarryMade2 14y ago
  Found him! http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=171.9737&view.vlookat=40.5571&view.fov=0.4789&imarkerath=171.9737&imarkeratv=40.5571 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=171.9737&#3...
Peroni 14y ago
Compiled a short list of the more famous sights for those of you not familiar with the city (I'll add more later): 1. The Shard (Tate Modern in the foreground) - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-33.1601&view.vlookat=2.2475&view.fov=4.8933&imarkerath=-33.1601&imarkeratv=2.2475 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-33.1601&#3... 2. London Eye - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-3.8135&view.vlookat=3.0432&view.fov=3.5602&imarkerath=-3.8135&imarkeratv=3.0432 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-3.8135&#38... 3. Tower Bridge - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-38.7356&view.vlookat=2.2507&view.fov=2.7320&imarkerath=-38.7356&imarkeratv=2.2507 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-38.7356&#3... 4. Wembley Stadium - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=140.7253&view.vlookat=0.8721&view.fov=11.6507&imarkerath=140.7253&imarkeratv=0.8721 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=140.7253&#3... 5. Battersea Power Station - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=35.2192&view.vlookat=2.9160&view.fov=2.8203&imarkerath=35.2192&imarkeratv=2.9160%20#BTTowerView http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=35.2192&#38... 6. Olympic Park - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-73.9268&view.vlookat=1.1407&view.fov=2.7782&imarkerath=-73.9268&imarkeratv=1.1407 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-73.9268&#3... 7. Big Ben & Houses of Parliament - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=6.4768&view.vlookat=2.4614&view.fov=3.3866&imarkerath=6.4768&imarkeratv=2.4614 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=6.4768&... 8. MI6 Building - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=14.9167&view.vlookat=2.5274&view.fov=1.9034&imarkerath=14.9167&imarkeratv=2.5274 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=14.9167&#38... 9. St Pauls Cathedral - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-43.8561&view.vlookat=2.4828&view.fov=2.9417&imarkerath=-43.8561&imarkeratv=2.4828 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-43.8561&#3... 10. Nelsons Column - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=13.4841&view.vlookat=5.1344&view.fov=1.4156&imarkerath=13.4841&imarkeratv=5.1344 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=13.4841&#38... 11. Behind the iconic billboards in Picadilly Circus - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=16.9026&view.vlookat=6.5854&view.fov=1.2770&imarkerath=16.9026&imarkeratv=6.5854 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=16.9026&#38... 12. Harrods Department Store - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=64.6214&view.vlookat=3.4378&view.fov=1.0196&imarkerath=64.6214&imarkeratv=3.4378 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=64.6214&#38... 13. The British Museum - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-45.7275&view.vlookat=7.9743&view.fov=8.5317&imarkerath=-45.7275&imarkeratv=7.9743 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-45.7275&#3...
sheri 14y ago
I found buzby. :) The image is clickable, which brings up a sweepstakes competition. Cute Easter Egg. http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=168.9705&view.vlookat=42.9767&view.fov=1.2811&imarkerath=168.9705&imarkeratv=42.9767 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=168.9705&#3...
- Peroni 14y ago
  Busby #2 was a bit harder to find: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=174.1983&view.vlookat=3.1216&view.fov=0.2259&imarkerath=174.1983&imarkeratv=3.1216 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=174.1983&#3...
platz 14y ago
Very cool. I wish there wasn't as much HDR-like post processing in these images. It kind of has an "uncanny valley" thing going on.
- simcop2387 14y ago
  This was likely a necessity to make the zoomed out view look better. If they didn't do that, it'd have all kinds of different lighting from being taken at different times of the day.
guy_c 14y ago
I hope no passwords on PostIt notes - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-92.6367&view.vlookat=34.5444&view.fov=0.6409&imarkerath=-92.6367&imarkeratv=34.5444 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-92.6367&#3...
m4tthumphrey 14y ago
Can't wait for someone to find a couple going at it on a tower block window. Brandon style [1] [1] http://www.evilbeetgossip.com/2011/03/03/want-to-see-michael-fassbender-banging-a-girl-against-a-glass-window/ http://www.evilbeetgossip.com/2011/03/03/want-to-see-michael...
beyti 14y ago
there's a half guy here: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-46.0400&view.vlookat=23.7366&view.fov=0.7804&imarkerath=-46.0400&imarkeratv=23.7366 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-46.0400&#3... #BTTowerView
- duck 14y ago
  Seems like he can't keep up with his own self!
jstalin 14y ago
Look kids! Big Ben! Parliament!
- Toenex 14y ago
  Kids aren't really a recognised London .... ohh sorry I see what you did there. ;)
___1___ 14y ago
I found it rather creepy (yet cool) that I could easily read a number plate miles away.
alansk 14y ago
Or from the Shard: http://static.guim.co.uk/interactivestore/2013/2/1/1359683910917/471154/index.html http://static.guim.co.uk/interactivestore/2013/2/1/135968391...
bane 14y ago
Oh I see, when you zoom in enough, it transitions to an ultra-close shot. A little jarring, but you can see things much nicer that way.
adamman 14y ago
I don't know how this guy is still standing. http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-46.1228&view.vlookat=23.3764&view.fov=0.5148&imarkerath=-46.1228&imarkeratv=23.3764 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-46.1228&#3...
pcg 14y ago
Found a Buzby: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=174.0788&view.vlookat=2.8315&view.fov=2.0906&imarkerath=174.0788&imarkeratv=2.8315 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=174.0788&#3...
infinitebeam 14y ago
where are the people ? No one seems to be living in any apartments.
drucken 14y ago
There's a surprising lack of people and candid shots compared to the last 10,000-shot panaroma by 360 Cities several years ago! I assume that has to do with the timing of the shots. These seem to have been taken very early in the morning and towards the beginning of autumn (based on clothing). Unlike the 360 Cities panaroma, there are far less discontinuities this time, though I have already found a significant one [1]. I guess the almost 5-fold increase in shots is the source of the improvement. Also, the depth of view in this panaroma is ridiculous! You can actually clearly see individual people playing soccer or walking through very distant parks... [1] http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8425&view.vlookat=5.7463&view.fov=9.9230&imarkerath=-96.8425&imarkeratv=5.7463 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8425&#3...
- simple1 14y ago
  According to a tower clock I found, this picture was taken at 1:40. Edit: In the "low resolution" image, the clock reads 1:38. In the second level of zoom, the clock reads closer to 1:41.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - drucken 14y ago
    According to a tower clock I found, this picture was taken at 1:40. A tower clock I found shows approx. 09h10. http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=161.5165&view.vlookat=14.6570&view.fov=1.3723&imarkerath=161.5165&imarkeratv=14.6570 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=161.5165&#3...
- nakedrobot2 14y ago
  Hi, This image was shot on a Sunday in October. The London 80 Gigapixel (which I also made) was shot in August. I think that explains the relative lack of people, here.
deleted 14y ago
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darxius 14y ago
I think I found the portal to Cthulhu's plane: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-97.0026&view.vlookat=6.1219&view.fov=3.7128&imarkerath=-97.0026&imarkeratv=6.1219 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-97.0026&#3...
runn1ng 14y ago
If you look into the black mark under its feet and let it zoom far enough so it snaps into the level of another photo type, you can see the construction it possibly stands on. http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-53.1605&view.vlookat=70.8474&view.fov=0.9926&imarkerath=-53.1605&imarkeratv=70.8474 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-53.1605&#3... (move a little to the left I guess... it's not working 100% properly)
TheSwordsman 14y ago
Interesting ... http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8192&view.vlookat=5.9197&view.fov=4.6055&imarkerath=-96.8192&imarkeratv=5.9197 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8192&#3...
VaedaStrike 14y ago
Found a very poorly photoshopped seam right off the bat. Kind of sad for something claiming to be of such quality to go in and botch it like that. I'm sure it's covering something to keep people happy, but did you have to do it in such an ugly and obvious way?
- mbrubeck 14y ago
  This is to be expected from giant images like this that are assembled by automatically stitching together hundreds of smaller images. You'll see the similar artifacts or errors on sites like Google Maps, for example http://www.moillusions.com/2006/04/google-maps-haunted-road.html http://www.moillusions.com/2006/04/google-maps-haunted-road....
nakedrobot2 14y ago
Hi, Creator of the image here. First of all, thank you for all the attention, it's a real honor to be on the front page oF HN for almost a whole day now. I am the founder of 360cities.net and creator of previous world record images such as "Prague 18 gigapixels", "Strahov Library 40 gigapixels" and "London 80 Gigapixels". This newest image was commissioned by BT as a kind of closing "Thank you London" gesture of the Olympic year. Of course, they didn't want "just" a jaw-droppingly enormous image, they wanted a world record image! Unfortunately, these things are getting a lot harder to accomplish, and we're starting to go up against some constrainsts of optics, air density, and so on. So, to create this image, we needed 4 cameras shooting simultaneously in order to get all the images in a reasonable length of time. We needed the very best optics out there, and CMOS sensors with the smallest pixels (somewhat unfortunately this meant the 3 year old Canon 7D). We needed the fasted and most precise panoramic robots to mount the cameras on. We needed gigantic memory cards, 128GB, to store a full run of images on one card. We needed 4 laptops to copy the cards quick enough to shoot again (buying more cards wasn't in the budget). In short, we needed a ridiculous amount of gear - this took 2 days to set up. We spent 3 days shooting. The first day it was raining, but we shot anyway to learn the gear and see what mistakes we might make. The second day there were 50km/h winds which, 150 meters up, is very cold and a little bit dangerous. We made sure the gear was triple secured, and we shot anyway. One of the three photographers threatened to leave the project. It was unpleasant. But we uncovered more issues which we were able to solve. Keep in mind the cameras were moving continuously, and focusing, and shooting - they never stopped to take a shot. 12600 shots while moving and focusing each time? This required some very exacting work, knowing the gear, and maybe even a bit of luck. Day 3 was clear, and not windy. We got 2 sets of images shot. All cameras got the shots they needed in 2 sets. That is 96000 images with not a shot missed. This to me is a huge technological achievement that i'm proud of, and I will sing the praises of Canon anytime someone asks me to :-) Now, on to stitching. Normally I have no problem stitching 2 or 4 thousand images. But this is an order of magnitude more. As gabriel weinberg noted recently, you find out what breaks when you increase things by an order of magnitude. Basically, the stitching software, Kolor Autopano Giga, was basically inoperable with this size data set. They scolded me for not having told them about this shoot beforehand. They told me that they know about the issues but other things are taking precedence in the development of the software. Stitching a world record amount of images is, by definition, an edge case. So they weren't really able to help me. Stitching ended up taking nearly 4 months when we thought it would take about 4 weeks. These 4 months were spent working until 3 or 4am many nights of the week. Deadlines slipped. I suffered. My family suffered. After 6 weeks of work I had accomplished nearly nothing and started to panic. I just had to keep on pushing.... In the end, we had to set a delivery date for the client. This required me to leave a few mistakes in the image that I would have liked to fix. However keep in mind that some areas of bad alignment on a normal image might take 30 minutes to fix, but with this size project in the software, it took A WEEK to fix. This kind of work is extremely demoralizing and there isn't much to be learned from it either. In the end, the image is finished. As they say "you never finish, you only stop!". I'll probably make a few more fixes, later. For right now I need to decompress for a while. So that is some background on how the image was created. It's not perfect, but overall it is much better than I expected. Shipping it was a terrible, brutal grind that I hope to never experience again. But it's done now and that feels pretty sweet. I'm typing this on the bus home from the airport after being in London for a tv show where they announced the image. That was fun. But the best feeling is knowing that the thing is finished and shipped, and if I ever have to do a similar job again I will hopefully learn from the mistakes made on this one and not have such a terrible grind again. I'm happy to answer any questions about the image that I didn't answer here. thank you!
jackm 14y ago
If anyone's interested, the multicolored group of buildings you see when first opening this page is one of Google's offices at Central St Giles. I've been there many times for training/meetings/the free lunch and it's amazing. They have a 360 degree gym at the very top, along with multiple roof terraces, a huge cafeteria (of course) and soundproofed meeting rooms with funny names. One of the office floors is styled like a submarine, complete with big metal doors with valves on them. They share the space with multiple Media Agencies and other companies, so you would never know it was there. It's quite surreal and invokes a ton of envy.
dennisgorelik 14y ago
This guy's boots look huge: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=194.6209&view.vlookat=68.8504&view.fov=0.4807&imarkerath=194.6209&imarkeratv=68.8504 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=194.6209&#3...

162 points by danielhunt 14y ago

Busy man? http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-64.2875&view.vlookat=17.4529&view.fov=0.2919&imarkerath=-64.2875&imarkeratv=17.4529 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-64.2875&#3...

4HTn77NR384oMjH 14y ago
Im guessing they mechanical turk (https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome) the crud out of these images, taking 3 or 4 photos at the same time of day and if there is a person in the first image then replacing it with the second, i came to this conclusion based on the fact the whole damn city looks like its apocalyptically empty once you get off the ground. None of the office buildings have meetings on and very few windows have people in.
- jermy 14y ago
  It's on a Sunday, and central London is always genuinely quiet. If you want to find lots of people, look at more touristy places like the Southbank http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-33.2466&view.vlookat=3.5997&view.fov=0.8469&imarkerath=-33.2466&imarkeratv=3.5997 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-33.2466&#3...

film42 14y ago

Can you imagine if google acquired this company for street view?

Rexxar 14y ago
BT = "British Telecom", it's not a small start up.
- ollybee 14y ago
  company != BT company == 360cities.net They already work with google blog.360cities.net/360-panorama-photos-google-earth/

newishuser 14y ago

Wish it had google maps type navigation, wish the images weren't HDRd in post. Other than that it's pretty cool.

hakaaaaak 14y ago

Someone's going to have a nice meal for two or be ringing two incredibly large attention bells: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-56.2662&view.vlookat=25.7578&view.fov=0.2132&imarkerath=-56.2662&imarkeratv=25.7578 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-56.2662&#3...

dcminter 14y ago
That's Heal's department store on Tottenham Court Road. So neither, it's just a display of wares for sale.

alanbyrne 14y ago

These things always feel like they pan the reverse way than they should...

CWIZO 14y ago
Use keyboard to navigate. It's much better IMO.
nakedrobot2 14y ago
Sorry, this panorama uses the original "qtvr" style navigation. Google streetview, maps, and Earth use "click and drag" navigation. There is currently a religious war going on in the pano community about which one is better. I tend to agree that the "click and drag" has become the standard.
- CamperBob2 14y ago
  I guess I don't get what's so horrible about giving people a choice. This is just a Quake-style mlook implementation at the end of the day, and gamers are used to being able to select the mlook polarity. But no, there has to be a jihad, and somebody has to "win."

dia80 14y ago

Yikes! I live about 2 miles away and I can make out the garden tools on my balcony.

bhickey 14y ago
I was able to find my old flat, which was about two miles from BT Tower.

sideproject 14y ago

is it just me? or can you actually spot a human being in this photo? It's an incredible image though!

shocks 14y ago
I found some human beings pretty quickly. :)
- sdoering 14y ago
  Great, great image. Cool technology. But one question kept popping into my head: What if someone was sleeping naked in his/her bedroom? Would it be blurred?
  - madmat 14y ago
    champagne ? :) http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=92.3363&view.vlookat=35.1979&view.fov=0.4070&imarkerath=92.3363&imarkeratv=35.1979 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=92.3363&#38...

shocks 14y ago

Something funky going on here... http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8554&view.vlookat=6.3616&view.fov=3.0874&imarkerath=-96.8554&imarkeratv=6.3616 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8554&#3... I don't remember architecture like this! :P edit: Wrong link. -_- Intended to post upside-down building... edit2: Corrected link.

shocks 14y ago
http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-56.2662&view.vlookat=25.7578&view.fov=0.2132&imarkerath=-56.2662&imarkeratv=25.7578 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-56.2662&#3... Also, this guy?
- jonathan-r 14y ago
  And here he is again (zoom in!): http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-43.8694&view.vlookat=1.6461&view.fov=3.4026&imarkerath=-43.8694&imarkeratv=1.6461 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-43.8694&#3...
CWIZO 14y ago
Hmm, if you zoom out there are trees blocking the window. How did they done this?!
- shocks 14y ago
  Oops. I appear to have paste the wrong link. I intended to post an upside-down building...!
  - hakaaaaak 14y ago
    You have now twice posted what I posted. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5256830 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5256830 I should thank you for your promotion of it! ;)
    - 14y ago

pawelwentpawel 14y ago

It's massive! I couldn't find my bedroom window but I've stumbled upon this guy instead : http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=172.0456&view.vlookat=40.5469&view.fov=0.9885&imarkerath=172.0456&imarkeratv=40.5469 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=172.0456&#3... EDIT: I'm wondering - if Google has to anonymise faces and registration plates on street view, shouldn't BT be doing it too with this high-res panoramic image?

tobylane 14y ago
That looks like a setup, the One Show is a simple early evening show.
- wr1472 14y ago
  next to him is an easter egg if you zoom out slightly http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=169.0923&view.vlookat=42.7815&view.fov=12.0664&imarkerath=169.0923&imarkeratv=42.7815 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=169.0923&#3...
- wr1472 14y ago
  Yes, there is no shadow around him, unlike the guy walking past. I think it has been photoshopped in.
nakedrobot2 14y ago
Google doesn't HAVE to blur faces (except in only about two countries). They do it as a PR gesture, to please people. This has had terrible effects for photographers, who are often told that "they have to blur faces like Google does".

marcusmacinnes 14y ago

A friend of mine Henry Stuart has done some amazing GigaPixel shots of London: http://www.sphericalimages.com/panoramas http://www.sphericalimages.com/panoramas if you like this kind of thing! (Including some 360 degree video: http://www.sphericalimages.com/videos http://www.sphericalimages.com/videos )

petercooper 14y ago

It strikes me how insignificant the River Thames is from there, I imagine most folks not familiar with London would struggle to find it(!)

grabeh 14y ago

http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-164.6520&view.vlookat=21.4926&view.fov=4.2410&imarkerath=-164.6520&imarkeratv=21.4926 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-164.6520&#... Interesting to see a shot capturing the progress of a car which helps determine the rate at which the images were taken.

devonbarrett 14y ago
Wouldn't you have to know its speed?
- grabeh 14y ago
  Of course! I walk past that road everyday so could make an educated guess at 40km/hr. Mind you, my maths skills are poor so I won't be about to start delving any deeper into the calculation!
  - nakedrobot2 14y ago
    It was more than one image per second, I can tell you that much. I forgot exactly how quick it was.

Pr1sm 14y ago

It strikes me that in such a densely populated environment there is so much under utilised space on the roof tops. Lots of opportunities for sheds and roof gardens.

Peroni 14y ago
I think this guy has done a pretty sweet job: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=171.2592&view.vlookat=19.2424&view.fov=2.6562&imarkerath=171.2592&imarkeratv=19.2424 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=171.2592&#3...

joell 14y ago

This would be the ultimate "Where's Waldo?"

danielmagnusson 14y ago
It is actually a "Where's Waldo?" in the picture. Find a big chicken called Buzby, win ipad and such for UK people only.. ;p
LarryMade2 14y ago
Found him! http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=171.9737&view.vlookat=40.5571&view.fov=0.4789&imarkerath=171.9737&imarkeratv=40.5571 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=171.9737&#3...

Peroni 14y ago

Compiled a short list of the more famous sights for those of you not familiar with the city (I'll add more later): 1. The Shard (Tate Modern in the foreground) - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-33.1601&view.vlookat=2.2475&view.fov=4.8933&imarkerath=-33.1601&imarkeratv=2.2475 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-33.1601&#3... 2. London Eye - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-3.8135&view.vlookat=3.0432&view.fov=3.5602&imarkerath=-3.8135&imarkeratv=3.0432 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-3.8135&#38... 3. Tower Bridge - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-38.7356&view.vlookat=2.2507&view.fov=2.7320&imarkerath=-38.7356&imarkeratv=2.2507 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-38.7356&#3... 4. Wembley Stadium - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=140.7253&view.vlookat=0.8721&view.fov=11.6507&imarkerath=140.7253&imarkeratv=0.8721 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=140.7253&#3... 5. Battersea Power Station - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=35.2192&view.vlookat=2.9160&view.fov=2.8203&imarkerath=35.2192&imarkeratv=2.9160%20#BTTowerView http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=35.2192&#38... 6. Olympic Park - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-73.9268&view.vlookat=1.1407&view.fov=2.7782&imarkerath=-73.9268&imarkeratv=1.1407 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-73.9268&#3... 7. Big Ben & Houses of Parliament - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=6.4768&view.vlookat=2.4614&view.fov=3.3866&imarkerath=6.4768&imarkeratv=2.4614 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=6.4768&... 8. MI6 Building - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=14.9167&view.vlookat=2.5274&view.fov=1.9034&imarkerath=14.9167&imarkeratv=2.5274 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=14.9167&#38... 9. St Pauls Cathedral - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-43.8561&view.vlookat=2.4828&view.fov=2.9417&imarkerath=-43.8561&imarkeratv=2.4828 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-43.8561&#3... 10. Nelsons Column - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=13.4841&view.vlookat=5.1344&view.fov=1.4156&imarkerath=13.4841&imarkeratv=5.1344 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=13.4841&#38... 11. Behind the iconic billboards in Picadilly Circus - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=16.9026&view.vlookat=6.5854&view.fov=1.2770&imarkerath=16.9026&imarkeratv=6.5854 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=16.9026&#38... 12. Harrods Department Store - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=64.6214&view.vlookat=3.4378&view.fov=1.0196&imarkerath=64.6214&imarkeratv=3.4378 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=64.6214&#38... 13. The British Museum - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-45.7275&view.vlookat=7.9743&view.fov=8.5317&imarkerath=-45.7275&imarkeratv=7.9743 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-45.7275&#3...

sheri 14y ago

I found buzby. :) The image is clickable, which brings up a sweepstakes competition. Cute Easter Egg. http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=168.9705&view.vlookat=42.9767&view.fov=1.2811&imarkerath=168.9705&imarkeratv=42.9767 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=168.9705&#3...

Peroni 14y ago
Busby #2 was a bit harder to find: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=174.1983&view.vlookat=3.1216&view.fov=0.2259&imarkerath=174.1983&imarkeratv=3.1216 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=174.1983&#3...

platz 14y ago

Very cool. I wish there wasn't as much HDR-like post processing in these images. It kind of has an "uncanny valley" thing going on.

simcop2387 14y ago
This was likely a necessity to make the zoomed out view look better. If they didn't do that, it'd have all kinds of different lighting from being taken at different times of the day.

guy_c 14y ago

I hope no passwords on PostIt notes - http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-92.6367&view.vlookat=34.5444&view.fov=0.6409&imarkerath=-92.6367&imarkeratv=34.5444 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-92.6367&#3...

m4tthumphrey 14y ago

Can't wait for someone to find a couple going at it on a tower block window. Brandon style [1] [1] http://www.evilbeetgossip.com/2011/03/03/want-to-see-michael-fassbender-banging-a-girl-against-a-glass-window/ http://www.evilbeetgossip.com/2011/03/03/want-to-see-michael...

beyti 14y ago

there's a half guy here: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-46.0400&view.vlookat=23.7366&view.fov=0.7804&imarkerath=-46.0400&imarkeratv=23.7366 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-46.0400&#3... #BTTowerView

duck 14y ago
Seems like he can't keep up with his own self!

jstalin 14y ago

Look kids! Big Ben! Parliament!

Toenex 14y ago
Kids aren't really a recognised London .... ohh sorry I see what you did there. ;)

___1___ 14y ago

I found it rather creepy (yet cool) that I could easily read a number plate miles away.

alansk 14y ago

Or from the Shard: http://static.guim.co.uk/interactivestore/2013/2/1/1359683910917/471154/index.html http://static.guim.co.uk/interactivestore/2013/2/1/135968391...

bane 14y ago

Oh I see, when you zoom in enough, it transitions to an ultra-close shot. A little jarring, but you can see things much nicer that way.

adamman 14y ago

I don't know how this guy is still standing. http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-46.1228&view.vlookat=23.3764&view.fov=0.5148&imarkerath=-46.1228&imarkeratv=23.3764 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-46.1228&#3...

pcg 14y ago

Found a Buzby: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=174.0788&view.vlookat=2.8315&view.fov=2.0906&imarkerath=174.0788&imarkeratv=2.8315 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=174.0788&#3...

infinitebeam 14y ago

where are the people ? No one seems to be living in any apartments.

drucken 14y ago

There's a surprising lack of people and candid shots compared to the last 10,000-shot panaroma by 360 Cities several years ago! I assume that has to do with the timing of the shots. These seem to have been taken very early in the morning and towards the beginning of autumn (based on clothing). Unlike the 360 Cities panaroma, there are far less discontinuities this time, though I have already found a significant one [1]. I guess the almost 5-fold increase in shots is the source of the improvement. Also, the depth of view in this panaroma is ridiculous! You can actually clearly see individual people playing soccer or walking through very distant parks... [1] http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8425&view.vlookat=5.7463&view.fov=9.9230&imarkerath=-96.8425&imarkeratv=5.7463 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8425&#3...

simple1 14y ago
According to a tower clock I found, this picture was taken at 1:40. Edit: In the "low resolution" image, the clock reads 1:38. In the second level of zoom, the clock reads closer to 1:41.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- drucken 14y ago
  According to a tower clock I found, this picture was taken at 1:40. A tower clock I found shows approx. 09h10. http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=161.5165&view.vlookat=14.6570&view.fov=1.3723&imarkerath=161.5165&imarkeratv=14.6570 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=161.5165&#3...
nakedrobot2 14y ago
Hi, This image was shot on a Sunday in October. The London 80 Gigapixel (which I also made) was shot in August. I think that explains the relative lack of people, here.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

darxius 14y ago

I think I found the portal to Cthulhu's plane: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-97.0026&view.vlookat=6.1219&view.fov=3.7128&imarkerath=-97.0026&imarkeratv=6.1219 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-97.0026&#3...

runn1ng 14y ago

If you look into the black mark under its feet and let it zoom far enough so it snaps into the level of another photo type, you can see the construction it possibly stands on. http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-53.1605&view.vlookat=70.8474&view.fov=0.9926&imarkerath=-53.1605&imarkeratv=70.8474 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-53.1605&#3... (move a little to the left I guess... it's not working 100% properly)

TheSwordsman 14y ago

Interesting ... http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8192&view.vlookat=5.9197&view.fov=4.6055&imarkerath=-96.8192&imarkeratv=5.9197 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=-96.8192&#3...

VaedaStrike 14y ago

Found a very poorly photoshopped seam right off the bat. Kind of sad for something claiming to be of such quality to go in and botch it like that. I'm sure it's covering something to keep people happy, but did you have to do it in such an ugly and obvious way?

mbrubeck 14y ago
This is to be expected from giant images like this that are assembled by automatically stitching together hundreds of smaller images. You'll see the similar artifacts or errors on sites like Google Maps, for example http://www.moillusions.com/2006/04/google-maps-haunted-road.html http://www.moillusions.com/2006/04/google-maps-haunted-road....

nakedrobot2 14y ago

Hi, Creator of the image here. First of all, thank you for all the attention, it's a real honor to be on the front page oF HN for almost a whole day now. I am the founder of 360cities.net and creator of previous world record images such as "Prague 18 gigapixels", "Strahov Library 40 gigapixels" and "London 80 Gigapixels". This newest image was commissioned by BT as a kind of closing "Thank you London" gesture of the Olympic year. Of course, they didn't want "just" a jaw-droppingly enormous image, they wanted a world record image! Unfortunately, these things are getting a lot harder to accomplish, and we're starting to go up against some constrainsts of optics, air density, and so on. So, to create this image, we needed 4 cameras shooting simultaneously in order to get all the images in a reasonable length of time. We needed the very best optics out there, and CMOS sensors with the smallest pixels (somewhat unfortunately this meant the 3 year old Canon 7D). We needed the fasted and most precise panoramic robots to mount the cameras on. We needed gigantic memory cards, 128GB, to store a full run of images on one card. We needed 4 laptops to copy the cards quick enough to shoot again (buying more cards wasn't in the budget). In short, we needed a ridiculous amount of gear - this took 2 days to set up. We spent 3 days shooting. The first day it was raining, but we shot anyway to learn the gear and see what mistakes we might make. The second day there were 50km/h winds which, 150 meters up, is very cold and a little bit dangerous. We made sure the gear was triple secured, and we shot anyway. One of the three photographers threatened to leave the project. It was unpleasant. But we uncovered more issues which we were able to solve. Keep in mind the cameras were moving continuously, and focusing, and shooting - they never stopped to take a shot. 12600 shots while moving and focusing each time? This required some very exacting work, knowing the gear, and maybe even a bit of luck. Day 3 was clear, and not windy. We got 2 sets of images shot. All cameras got the shots they needed in 2 sets. That is 96000 images with not a shot missed. This to me is a huge technological achievement that i'm proud of, and I will sing the praises of Canon anytime someone asks me to :-) Now, on to stitching. Normally I have no problem stitching 2 or 4 thousand images. But this is an order of magnitude more. As gabriel weinberg noted recently, you find out what breaks when you increase things by an order of magnitude. Basically, the stitching software, Kolor Autopano Giga, was basically inoperable with this size data set. They scolded me for not having told them about this shoot beforehand. They told me that they know about the issues but other things are taking precedence in the development of the software. Stitching a world record amount of images is, by definition, an edge case. So they weren't really able to help me. Stitching ended up taking nearly 4 months when we thought it would take about 4 weeks. These 4 months were spent working until 3 or 4am many nights of the week. Deadlines slipped. I suffered. My family suffered. After 6 weeks of work I had accomplished nearly nothing and started to panic. I just had to keep on pushing.... In the end, we had to set a delivery date for the client. This required me to leave a few mistakes in the image that I would have liked to fix. However keep in mind that some areas of bad alignment on a normal image might take 30 minutes to fix, but with this size project in the software, it took A WEEK to fix. This kind of work is extremely demoralizing and there isn't much to be learned from it either. In the end, the image is finished. As they say "you never finish, you only stop!". I'll probably make a few more fixes, later. For right now I need to decompress for a while. So that is some background on how the image was created. It's not perfect, but overall it is much better than I expected. Shipping it was a terrible, brutal grind that I hope to never experience again. But it's done now and that feels pretty sweet. I'm typing this on the bus home from the airport after being in London for a tv show where they announced the image. That was fun. But the best feeling is knowing that the thing is finished and shipped, and if I ever have to do a similar job again I will hopefully learn from the mistakes made on this one and not have such a terrible grind again. I'm happy to answer any questions about the image that I didn't answer here. thank you!

jackm 14y ago

If anyone's interested, the multicolored group of buildings you see when first opening this page is one of Google's offices at Central St Giles. I've been there many times for training/meetings/the free lunch and it's amazing. They have a 360 degree gym at the very top, along with multiple roof terraces, a huge cafeteria (of course) and soundproofed meeting rooms with funny names. One of the office floors is styled like a submarine, complete with big metal doors with valves on them. They share the space with multiple Media Agencies and other companies, so you would never know it was there. It's quite surreal and invokes a ton of envy.

dennisgorelik 14y ago

This guy's boots look huge: http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=194.6209&view.vlookat=68.8504&view.fov=0.4807&imarkerath=194.6209&imarkeratv=68.8504 http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html?view.hlookat=194.6209&#3...