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?