Of all the new technologies the folks at Microsoft Live Labs have been putting out, Photosynth is one that really puts a smile on my face when I play with it. And it’s now available for you to play with in the form of a technology preview. Photosynth analyzes collections of digital photos for similarities, builds them into a three dimensional space, and lets you browse through them. From the site:

Each photo is processed by computer vision algorithms to extract hundreds of distinctive features, like the corner of a window frame or a door handle. Photos that share features are then linked together in a web. When the same feature is found in multiple images, its 3D position can be calculated. It’s similar to depth perception – what your brain does to perceive the 3D positions of things in your field of view based on their images in both of your eyes. Photosynth’s 3D model is just the cloud of points showing where those features are in space.

Though not ready for primetime (the product is still in pre-beta) and you can’t yet upload your own photos, you can take the technology preview for a spin with some existing photos on the site. Check it out!

A couple of notes:

• You must use Internet Explorer 6 or 7
• You must allow a small (~5MB) Active X control to install
• You must have a fairly modern graphics card
• You must enable Direct3D, DirectDraw, and Hardware Acceleration on your computer. The Photosynth FAQ page has instructions on doing this.