| By :
Dirik Hameed
Virtual tours use virtual reality to allow viewers to visit locations and buildings. This is a wise investment for many types of businesses. This is a popular tool among real estate websites. They are also used for educational purposes. For instance, these tours are used to visit the Seven Wonders of the World and the Louvre. They are generally composed of several images. Many types of multimedia are added to enhance the experience. Music, text, narration, and sound effects may be among these. Generally, virtual tours are either photograph or video based media. Three different ways are used to produce these with photographs. To begin there is Rectilinear Stitching. A digital camera is placed on a tri-pod. It is manually rotated, clockwise, 360 degrees. A photograph is captured every so many degrees. Whatever the amount of degrees is desired may be set. Using specialized software, the pictures are then stitched together. This produces a 360 degree view of the location. The up and down view of this method is limited to about 50 degrees. The next technique is known as Spherical Stitching. This technique requires more costly camera equipment. It also requires less time than the Rectilinear Stitching technique. This is because a 360 degree, floor to ceiling view is created with only 4 shots. The Rectilinear method needs 8 to 12 shots per view. The last method is known as Cubical Stitching. This way the panoramas are stitched then converted into a three dimensional type box. This is the way a 360 x 360 scene is produced. This third method is thought of as outmoded. Nowadays, there are also video-based 360 virtual tours. These are becoming more popular. To assist with the creation of panoramic virtual tours consult a virtual tour provider. Assistance in integrating or embedding them into the website is also provided by them. The virtual tour business uses several different ways to integrate these tours into websites. Among these are thumbnails, icons, and hyperlinks. HTML source code is used to embed these onto the website. The client clicks on one of these and is automatically taken to the virtual tour. The virtual tour company can also use flash to place the tour directly on the website itself. Keep in mind a couple other considerations. The client viewing the tour must have an up to date browser. Javascript must be supported by the browser. This is a certain type of programming language. Javascript must be enabled and up to date. The browser must also be supported by Adobe Flash Player version 9.0.28 or better. In some cases, Apple Quicktime Player is needed. All of these programs are widely available on the web and are free. The provider helping with the design of the virtual tour can also add links to permit people access to these programs. All the visitor must do is click on the link. They will instantly be transferred to a site to download these programs at no charge. Often, the visitor will have the required programs, but they have not been up dated. The site enables updates too.
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