Are you really into paintings?

A technique developed by Microsoft has given unique access to the world of the Old Masters, allowing people to virtually explore every aspect of a painting such as The Flagellation of Christ by Renaissance master Piero della Francesca.

Researchers at Microsoft's UK research lab based in Cambridge have developed algorithms that generate new views of a painting or portions of it, allowing art historians to analyse the shape and proportion of objects.

The technique can also create a three-dimensional reconstruction of the whole painting.

"You feel yourself present in the painting and could even find yourself next to Christ," explained Antonio Criminisi, one of the researchers on the project.

An amusing gimmick, but I'm not sure the VR people appreciate quite how peculiar the notion of actually entering the picture would have been to Renaissance artists. Then as now, there are some things better beheld than participated in. From the BBC.

Posted by David on April 18, 2003 12:57 PM