[Digital Imaging]
Sony Corporation - Cyber-shot digital camera WX1's Swing Panorama feature

Almost every consumer camera sold these days contains the ability to shoot panorama photos. The problem is that no one uses it. Taking a panorama photo typically involves the user repeatedly pressing the shutter button while slowly pivoting the camera from left to right. The process captures several photos, which are stitched together in the camera or on a computer. With Sony?s ?swing panorama? system, a user simply points the camera to the far left of the scene she wants to capture, presses the shutter button once, and pivots to the right (or right to left). After 256 degrees, the camera automatically stops capturing an image and displays the full panorama on the screen. The user can zoom in on portions of the image or ?play? it back sort of like a movie, with a slow pan from side to side. The technology can also be used to capture vertical images, such as a tall building, tree or mountains.

The judges were impressed with how well the technology worked and its simplicity?which should unlock a valuable but underused feature in digital photography. As an example of its simplicity, the user is not required to pan at a certain speed. The camera is capable or capturing a hundred still pictures in one ?swing,? meaning it is able to slow down or throttle up based on the user?s speed. And the process for creating the final image is practically instantaneous. In effect, ?swing? puts an ultra-wide angle lens?256 degrees wide?into the hands of amateur photographers at no additional cost and without the distortion that is typical with wide-angle lenses.

Scott Ard