Microsoft Terraserver is just as Google Maps a software that lets the user take a closer look at the world through satellite pictures of places all over the world. However where Google Maps has succeeded Terraserver has failed to reach out and why that is can always be discussed. Anywho, rumours are going around that Microsoft has invested in a software called Seadragon that could become an interesting complement for a new version of Terraserver. It is a new image scaling software especially suitable for zooming in, a feature that is very important when using applications such as Google Maps and Terraserver. The really nice thing with Seadragon is that the clients don’t have to dowload the entire picture but just the small segment that is actually showing.
Through its efficient handling you can scale and scroll through huge pictures without delays. The only thing that happends is that you notice how Seadragon focuses on a certain location as the program then downloads the last details for the picture.
”Seadragon’s WMP demo demonstrates a 118 megapixel image dance around the terminal on a 500 kilobit per second connection. The set of images to the right are screen captures from the Seadragon demo of a high quality scan coming into focus. The image does not abrubtly scale or rerender.”
Seadragon sounds like a very promising technology and we assume we will see more of it in the future.
Source: DailyTech
