What+is+Gigapan?

What is it?

Well...it is so easy...my cat can do it!



GigaPan is the newest development of the [|Global Connection Project], which aims to help us meet our neighbors across the globe, and learn about our planet itself. GigaPan will help bring distant communities and peoples together through images that have so much detail that they are, themselves, the objects of exploration, discovery and wonder. We believe that enabling people to explore, experience, and share each other's worlds can be a transforming experience. Our mission is to make all aspects of the GigaPan experience accessible and affordable to the broadest possible community. GigaPan consists of three technological developments: a robotic camera mount for capturing very high-resolution (gigapixel and up) panoramic images using a standard digital camera; custom software for constructing very high-resolution gigapixel panoramas; and, a new type of website for exploring, sharing and commenting on gigapixel panoramas and the detail our users will discover within them. The GigaPan website allows hosting and sharing all kinds of panoramas, and so the robotic GigaPan mount is recommended but is certainly not required to be part of this community. In addition to the individual user community, we have are working with a number of partners, including [|The World] (BBC/WGBH), and projects like the Pennsylvania Civil War Trails. Stay tuned for announcements about several other professional and educational applications of GigaPan which are currently in development. We hope to disseminate the GigaPan technology as broadly as possible for cultural and environmental understanding and for education.