Multi-gigapixel panoramas are rad. It’s like peeping at the world through a telescope from the comfort of your own ground-floor living room. But Microsoft has made the concept even more fun with its 20 Gigapixel “ArtZoom”, and has hidden a bunch of stuff for you to find.
Shot as a series of 2400 digital photographs of Seattle in October of last year, Microsoft Research’s multi-billion pixel pano features some 100 art and design nerds that call Seattle home. The trick is finding them all.
Instead of forcing all those guys to stand still for hours and hours while the panorama was being shot, Microsoft Researcher and ArtZoom lead Michael Cohen opted for a different approach; get the city first, then shoot the easter eggs and put them in in post.
The result is a totally ludicrous sort of “Where’s Waldo” and an opportunity for you to get your voyeuristic rocks off guilt-free while learning a bit about the Seattle art and design community at the same time. You can go explore the massive picture over at the ArtZoom’s official site, but be sure to come back and share if you find anything fun. You’re virtually guaranteed to. [Microsoft Research via Co.Design]