It's a common problem observed by all tourists - you pay exorbitant amounts of money to get to some fantastic viewpoint, with views for miles in all directions... and the view is fantastic, but what's that building there? What river is that? What's that statue?
Sure, there's a big plaque with a skyline etched onto it, which contains all the answers - but it's perpetually crowded round with people, and you can't just stand in front of it and peruse the landmarks at your leisure.
No, what you need is the Panarama Hat.
The manufacture of a Panarama Hat is sim,ple. Take a 360 degree panoramic photo of the area, and annotate it with names of buildings, places of interest, etc. Coil it into a cylinder, with the picture on the inside. Then, affix it to a frame which includes a pin in the centre of the cylinder, pointing down its axis. To the top of this frame, affix a compass needle (or other suitable magnetised pointy thing). For best results (in fact, for the only results that will make sense), align your magnetised thingy with the north/south points on the photo.
Next, take a hat. Fix to the centre of the hat, at the very point where a person travelling vertically upwards would run out of head, a button, the crucial characteristic of which is a small cup-shaped depression at its apex.
Now you have all the parts of a Panarama Hat - all that is required is the assembly (you can see where this is going, can't you). First, place yourself at the location where you took the view from. Then, put on the hat. Finally, place the panorama, in its cylindrical frame, on your head, so that the pin sits in the depression on the button. If done correctly, that photo (complete with notes, arrows, etc., should hover just above the view. The magnetised pointy thing will act as a compass, keeping the whole panoramic photo correctly aligned, so you will be able to check, with a slight upward glance, on the identity of every single building, park or point of interest in a full 360 view!-- moomintroll, Jul 15 2007 Photosynth http://labs.live.com/photosynth/Software back end for [moom]'s hat. [wagster, Jul 15 2007] You'd like Photosynth if you haven't seen it already (link). Photosynth would be better than your idea except that it doesn't feature a hat, so it isn't. Nevertheless it could well come in handy with your photopanoramic millinery extravaganza.-- wagster, Jul 15 2007 //Photosynth would be better than your idea except that it doesn't feature a hat, so it isn't. //
An elegant summary, sir. I have seen Photosynth - still waiting for it to get to beta, though :(-- moomintroll, Jul 16 2007 [Still think this is misspelt, even if it's a pun.]-- DrCurry, Jul 16 2007 A moron, a plan, a canal - panoroma!-- jutta, Jul 17 2007 Sounds like you found another tagline!-- DrCurry, Jul 17 2007 //[Still think this is misspelt, even if it's a pun.]// Let's just say it's a bad pun misspelling.
Damn, [jutta] - wish I'd thought of that before I named it.-- moomintroll, Jul 17 2007 It sounds like some medieval attempt at virtual reality "Now Brother Lucius, don thine visionary helm and yea! Behold thou hast been verily transported unto the very heavens." <Gasps>"But Brother Hansel, how can this be? When I turn, a thousand hosts reveal themselves as mine view changes before me, and yet I remain in the vestry, here among your many scrolls and marvellous inventions." "Ah Brother Lucius, 'tis but an engraving, suspended from the helm around the eyes, and bound to lodestone - We are yet perfecting the art."-- zen_tom, Jul 17 2007 You could, instead of adding the notes to a photograph, place them on a transparent film, thereby actually annotating the real, live scene.-- TheLightsAreOnBut, Jul 17 2007 random, halfbakery