Thursday, February 28, 2008

MS World Wide Telescope launch at TED

This video, featuring Roy Gould of the Harvard Center for Astrophysics and Curtis Wong of Microsoft, introduces Microsoft’s new program, World Wide Telescope, a kind of Google Earth for the Galaxy.



Gould argues that the software will allow users to 1) experience the universe as a kind of “magic carpet” ride that lets you go where you want to go, 2) “tour the universe with astronomers as your guides” using the built-in tours, or 3) create your own tours through the universe, which can be shared with others. Gould claims that this last point is the most exciting because it will allow a “community of storytellers evolve and emerge” around the images of our galaxy.

The software will be available as a free download this spring from worldwidetelescope.org

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