Gigapxl Project
The Gigapxl Project, initiated late in the year 2000 under the impetus of retired physicist Graham Flint, is a large format landscape photography and ultrahigh-resolution scanning and printing technology, developed around custom-built Gigapxl™ cameras and modern digital scanning and printing equipment and software. Results can be described in one way as a 4 Gigapixel (4,000 Megapixel) image that has dimensions of 10 x 20 ft - with 3 Megapixel sharpness over included 4 x 6 inch areas.
The Project's near-term goal (last stated in 2007) is to "compile a coast-to-coast "Portrait of America"; photographing in detail, cities, parks and monuments of the USA and Canada".
A stated longer term goal relates to an effort to document thousands of cultural and archaeological sites around the world which cannot be preserved and which inevitably will deteriorate with the passage of time. A prime example is the city of Rome, Italy. Rome's limestone structures which have stood for thousands of years have become victims of acid rain. Stonemason's tool marks until recently clear to see - have all but vanished. Ultrahigh-resolution, documentary photography can preserve such details for future generations.
In August 2007, Google began incorporating Gigapxl photographic information into Google Earth.[1]
Their official website is no longer operational.
References
- ^ Frank Taylor. "New Photo Viewer with Gigapixel Layer in Google Earth". Google Earth Blog. Retrieved 2007-08-25.