A virtual walkthrough, also known as a virtual tour is a simulation of an existing location. There are different types of virtual walkthroughs using different technologies and techniques, the primary technique we use here is to take multiple photographs stitch them together using our processing software and tying it all together into an interactive virtual tour, this is currently the most popular method of producing virtual walkthroughs.

Another method is to create a virtual walkthrough using video. The process requires shooting video of an existing location and then editing this together into a short presentation, it is generally not interactive therefore cannot explicitly be described as a virtual walkthrough, however, it usually does have play, stop, pause and chapter skip buttons to go to different sections of the tour.

Other virtual walkthroughs use 3-D models. It may be desirable to use 3-D modelling to produce a virtual walk-through when the subject matter has been badly damaged or does not exist, for example, an ancient castle may need to be reconstructed in 3-D to give users a detailed picture of what the building would have looked like.

There are many applications for virtual walkthroughs and it is extensively used for universities and the real estate industry.

A 360 photo is a 360 degree image. The process to create a 360 photo requires taking of multiple images and then stitching these images into one full 360 degree view. The quality of a 360 photo depends on three factors, the photographer, equipment, and the software used to process the images.

You can see an example of a stitched 360 image below, this one was made up of 6 separate images.

I get so caught up in making virtual tours I sometimes forget why we do them. I know why I do it, the love of photography, researching the technology, and putting it all together.

A good virtual tour should educate, inform and entertain and be easy-to-use.

There are many reasons why a marketer would want to commission a virtual tour, here are just a few of them:

• Allows you to market your property / venue to a remote audience
• Increase conversion rates and ROI
• Reduces cost, Less expensive than commissioning a traditional brochure
• Offer a highly engaging customer experience
• Overlay products and service information

There are many industries that use virtual tours for marketing, it is widely used in estate agencies, hotels, universities, hospitals, and showrooms. How do you use virtual tours?

If you own or run a restaurant with a space that you hire out, using a virtual tour is a great way of promoting it. This can be integrated into your website or sent by e-mail to prospective client, and shared via social networks.

The great thing about virtual tours are the interactive and customisation options, not only can we integrate your branding and logo, but we can also integrate booking forms, Google maps to show the location of your restaurant, and other useful information.

• Practical way of showcasing your venue online
• Integrate directly into your website
• Make it easy for your prospective customers to see your space for hire

We recently shot an HDR Virtual Tour from outside of the London Aquarium – Best Viewed in Full Screen

Recently, we were commissioned to build a virtual tour for the Design Museum in Shad Thames. On our way back over Tower Bridge we decided to shoot another panorama which I processed as and HDR image and turned into an interactive panorama for your viewing pleasure..

I’m really pleased with the results of this particular virtual tour. If you would like any more information about our virtual tour photographic services get in touch with us via the contact page.

Craig Wedren’s latest single “Are We” has recenly been released along with an interactive virtual tour film – click here to view..

Watching BBC click today I was very intrigued by the new touchscreens that allow multiple users, and this has got me thinking about how we can use this technology for the purposes of virtual tours.

One idea I had it to have a screen with gallery of spherical images. Spherical images could be moved around the screen and selected. once selected you would be to navigate by simply moving your finger to  look around the panorama.

Some of the early 360° virtual tours were  poor in quality mainly due to the technology that could be used at the time, since  digital photography has got better and better over the years so has the quality of virtual tours  photography.

Now with even Google jumping on the bandwagon with the amazing product Streetview, things are only set to get better. And even more recently one of the coolest things I’ve seen in 2010  was the video virtual tours which are virtual tours that of 360° of live events give you interactive control over the video, you have to see it to believe it.

Wishing you all a happy New Year and looking forward to fruitful and technologically advanced 2011.

What has been your favourite inventions of 2010?