Interactive 360 degree virtual tours are the hallmark of any great tourism or hospitality website. A virtual tour is a stimulation of a location and consists of a sequence of videos or still images, or sometimes both. Some virtual tours may also use sound effects, music, or narration accompanied with subtitles. Interestingly, the first virtual tour was created in 1994 by British engineer Colin Johnson, as a ‘walk-through’ of a 3D reconstruction of the Dudley Castle in England dating back to 1550. This tour was even used by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II herself during the inauguration of the visitor centre in June 1994. Since then, they have increasingly become a popular feature on tourism, and hotel websites.
Virtual tours, however, should not be confused with a video tour, which is a full motion video of a location, which gives a real lifelike feeling of being in a place. The former offers an unbroken, panoramic view by using a series of photographs or panning video footage that shoots from one vantage point. Virtual tours can be created in two ways; using stitching photographs, or videos that are also called video-based virtual tours. Depending of the method of production used, various software can be used to create interactive and media rich virtual tours. In fact, these days one can also create high definition virtual tours using web based software.
360 virtual tour are widely used particularly in the real estate and hospitality industry. Such applications allow potential guests or buyers to preview and visualize the location (or hotel) before they actually book or visit. It was recently revealed in a study that the number of Americans watching virtual tour views rose from 54 million in 2004 to 71 million by August 2006. Moreover, it was also reported that by August 2010, 108 million American watched virtual tours on Internet.
Virtual tours, however, should not be confused with a video tour, which is a full motion video of a location, which gives a real lifelike feeling of being in a place. The former offers an unbroken, panoramic view by using a series of photographs or panning video footage that shoots from one vantage point. Virtual tours can be created in two ways; using stitching photographs, or videos that are also called video-based virtual tours. Depending of the method of production used, various software can be used to create interactive and media rich virtual tours. In fact, these days one can also create high definition virtual tours using web based software.
360 virtual tour are widely used particularly in the real estate and hospitality industry. Such applications allow potential guests or buyers to preview and visualize the location (or hotel) before they actually book or visit. It was recently revealed in a study that the number of Americans watching virtual tour views rose from 54 million in 2004 to 71 million by August 2006. Moreover, it was also reported that by August 2010, 108 million American watched virtual tours on Internet.
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