Although we are increasingly living in a visual age, the majority of our visual expertise is stuck in the realms of entertainment and marketing. There are signs that this is changing, however. The example below, shows a good use of photography to answer a question…

…what does 200 calories look like?

It’s a little unfortunate that one reaches a dead-end once they’ve seen the pictures. Maybe a link to this nutritional data on peanut butter would have been a nice addition.

But, still, it’s a wonderful way of answering the question in a clear and memorable manner.

Take a look at the full answer here.

Photosynth is a project by Microsoft Live Labs that synthesises collections of photographs together to create a new form of 3D presentation. It is extremely impressive and probably another one of those elements that will change the world.

Some thoughts:

• Imagine what this would be like if you combined it with something like Google Earth
• What if you combined it with NASA photos?
• What if it was combined with microscopic photography?
• How easily could you incorporate video into this? Live webcams?
• Could you use this with traditional art work?
• How could this be used to fight crime?

Take a look at the videos and live presentation on the official website.