Virtual Tours

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The phrases panoramic tour and virtual tour are often used to describe a variety of video and photographic based media. The word panorama indicates an unbroken view, so essentially, a panorama in that respect could be either a series of photographs or panning video footage. However, of late the phrases 'panoramic tour' and 'virtual tour' have mostly been associated with virtual tours created using stills cameras. The image above is an example of what a virtual tour movie looks like when it has been 'flattened', this is also referred to as a panoramic image. Such virtual tours created with still cameras are made up of a number of shots taken from a single point. The camera and lens are rotated around what is referred to as a nodal point (the exact point at the back of the lens where the light converges). These images are stitched together using specialist software, the movies are each resized and configured for optimal on-line use. Some 'panographers' will then add hotspots (allow user to click and walk through doors etc) and integrate plans or maps.

Virtual Tours can allow a user to view an environment whilst on-line. Currently a variety of industries use such technology to help market their services and product. Over the last few years virtual tours; their quality, usability and accessibility have improved considerably, some websites allow the user to navigate virtual tours by clicking on maps or integrated floor plans.

The sheer beauty of virtual tours is their interactivity and download speed with smart compression software reducing each "movie's" file size to around 100kb.

Virtual tours are to be the future of viewing all manner of environments on-line and with the number of people with access to computers that have high speed internet connections ever increasing virtual tours will impact upon everyone's lives.

Real Estate Virtual Tours

Virtual Tours are very popular in the Real Estate Industry.

There are essentially three types of Real Estate Virtual Tours,

1. Full Service Virtual Tours
2. Do-It-Yourself Virtual Tours
3. Interactive video floor plans

Full Service Virtual Tours

Full Service Virtual Tours are usually created by a Professional Photographer that will visit the listing take several photos and run them through some stitching software for an Agent. Full Service Virtual Tours are more expensive than DIY Virtual Tours, because of the expense of the Photographer. However these Virtual Tours are easy for the Agent because they don't have to take the photos.

External Links

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• Onewildworld - U.K. based Virtual Tour provider with plug-in free tours available to view.
• Panoguide - Information on how to make your own Virtual Tour
• HouseOn.TV - Classic example of Virtual Tour
• Vox360 - Java based Virtual Tours created with softwaes like easypano and ptgui.