The beauty of time lapse photography is that it allows us to see the world from the perspective of a great being that lives a thousand years or more.
As humans our hardwired range of temporal perception lie within limits governed by our physiological and mental states. Time lapse photography allows us to see the passage of time and control it so that we can ‘see’ a city transform through day and night, or see the bullet effect made famous by the Matrix movies.
Another application is security.
The use on time lapse cameras on construction sites around the world allows project managers and logistics managers to get an insight into the flow of events through time on the build. This can help make more efficient future builds and streamline the ergonomic flow of events.
A benefit of time lapse photography is that it lends a narrative to a lengthy process which helps to get a message across more effectively by telling the story of the event in a bite-size chunk of time. Time lapse films are also useful for marketing staff who need to convey a process in a tight time frame.
Some excellent examples of this and some pioneering experimental work is exhibited on the Lobster Pictures company site. They have developed their own time lapse camera, the Lobster Pot, and accompanying time lapse software, Lobster Lapse, that allows managers to view work on construction sites in real time using a web browser from anywhere in the world. This is exemplified by the NHS Bradford, UK, site construction video.
The film company also uses time lapse photography techniques for producing TV and film for broadcasters and corporate productions, such as Channel 4 in the UK and other television channels. They are also working on 3d stereoscopic time lapse techniques, being able to draw upon the skills of their experienced creative staff.