Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Virtual Tour shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Virtual Tour offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Virtual Tour at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Virtual Tour? Wrong! If the Virtual Tour is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Virtual Tour then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Virtual Tour? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Virtual Tour and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Virtual Tour wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Virtual Tour then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Virtual Tour site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Virtual Tour, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Virtual Tour, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
A
virtual tour (or
virtual reality tour) is
virtual reality simulation of an actually existing location, usually comprising 2D computer graphics
panoramic photography, a sequence of hyperlinked still or video images, and/or image-based modeling and rendering of the real location, as well as other multimedia elements such as sound effects,
music, narration, and text. As opposed to actual tourism, a
virtual tour is accessed on a
personal computer (typically over the
Internet). It does not require travel, but ideally,
virtual tour viewing evokes an expereince of moving through the represented space.
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. 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 be especially useful for universities and in the
real estate industry, looking to attract prospective students and tenants/buyers, respectively, eliminating for the consumer the cost of travel to numerous individual locations.
First Use
The first use of a Virtual Tour and the derivation of the name , was in 1994 as a museum visitor interpretation, providing a 'walk-through' of a 3D reconstruction of Dudley Castle in England as it was in 1550.This comprised of a computer controlled laserdisc based system designed by British based engineer Colin Johnson. It is a little known fact that one of the first users of a Virtual Tour was Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, when she officially opened the visitor centre in June 1994.Because the Queens officials had requested titles, descriptions and instructions of all activities, the system was named 'Virtual Tour, being a cross between Virtual Reality and Royal Tour. Details of the original project can be viewed here.. Virtual Tours of Dudley Castle archiveThe system featured in a conference held by the British Museum in November 1994 and in the subsequent technical paper.
'Imaging the Past' - Electronic Imaging and Computer Graphics in Museums and Archaeology. This was prior to the appearance on the Web of the online browser based application QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR or QuickTimeVR), which Apple introduced as an upgrade to their QuickTime video format, thus becoming the enabling technology for viewing photographic or computer generated virtual scenes.
Methods of creation
Photo-Stitching Software
One popular method of creation is to 'stitch' still-photographs to create panoramic images where the the end user can control zooms and pans of the stitched image. The benefit of this method is that it does not require any specialized equipment to capture the images. Any
digital camera will work. If the individual images have varying exposure or color settings the stitch marks will be obvious.
Video-Based Virtual Tours
With the expansion of video on the Internet, video-based virtual tours are growing in popularity. This is where
video cameras are used to pan and walk-through subject properties. The benefit of this method is that the point of view is constantly changing throughout a pan. However, capturing high-quality video requires significantly more technical skill and equipment than taking digital still pictures. Video also eliminates viewer control of the tour. Therefore the tour is the same for all viewers and subject matter is chosen by the
videographer. Editing digital video requires proficiency with video editing software and has higher computer hardware requirements. Also, displaying video over the Internet requires more bandwidth. Due to these difficulties, the task of creating video-based tours is often left to professionals.
Various software products can be used (individually or in conjunction with each other) to create media rich virtual tours. See methods developed by MOVES Institute at the
Naval Postgraduate School.
Web Based Virtual Tours
For most of businesses a virtual tour must be accessible from every where and the major soloution is a web based virtual tour , besides A rich and useful virtual tour is not just a panoramic picture. for giving a better experience you must gather lots of data types like videos, texts, pictures and etc in an interactive web content. there is lots of ways to gather your data in a mixture web content like using rich content builders (like Java applet, Adobe Flash,... ) or
Web content management system (like Virtual Tour Engine,
CampusTours,...)
See also
External links
-
-
-
-
-
- Connecticut Home and BusinessVirtual Tours
- viewAt.org - The World in panoramic
- Virtual Tour of Niagara Falls
A
virtual tour (or
virtual reality tour) is
virtual reality simulation of an actually existing location, usually comprising 2D computer graphics
panoramic photography, a sequence of
hyperlinked still or video images, and/or
image-based modeling and rendering of the real location, as well as other multimedia elements such as
sound effects,
music, narration, and text. As opposed to actual
tourism, a
virtual tour is accessed on a
personal computer (typically over the
Internet). It does not require travel, but ideally,
virtual tour viewing evokes an expereince of moving through the represented space.
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. 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 be especially useful for universities and in the real estate industry, looking to attract prospective students and tenants/buyers, respectively, eliminating for the consumer the cost of travel to numerous individual locations.
First Use
The first use of a Virtual Tour and the derivation of the name , was in 1994 as a museum visitor interpretation, providing a 'walk-through' of a 3D reconstruction of Dudley Castle in England as it was in 1550.This comprised of a computer controlled laserdisc based system designed by British based engineer Colin Johnson. It is a little known fact that one of the first users of a Virtual Tour was Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, when she officially opened the visitor centre in June 1994.Because the Queens officials had requested titles, descriptions and instructions of all activities, the system was named 'Virtual Tour, being a cross between Virtual Reality and Royal Tour. Details of the original project can be viewed here.. Virtual Tours of Dudley Castle archiveThe system featured in a conference held by the British Museum in November 1994 and in the subsequent technical paper.
'Imaging the Past' - Electronic Imaging and Computer Graphics in Museums and Archaeology. This was prior to the appearance on the Web of the online browser based application QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR or QuickTimeVR), which Apple introduced as an upgrade to their QuickTime video format, thus becoming the enabling technology for viewing photographic or computer generated virtual scenes.
Methods of creation
Photo-Stitching Software
One popular method of creation is to 'stitch' still-photographs to create panoramic images where the the end user can control zooms and pans of the stitched image. The benefit of this method is that it does not require any specialized equipment to capture the images. Any digital camera will work. If the individual images have varying
exposure or color settings the stitch marks will be obvious.
Video-Based Virtual Tours
With the expansion of video on the Internet, video-based virtual tours are growing in popularity. This is where
video cameras are used to pan and walk-through subject properties. The benefit of this method is that the point of view is constantly changing throughout a pan. However, capturing high-quality video requires significantly more technical skill and equipment than taking digital still pictures. Video also eliminates viewer control of the tour. Therefore the tour is the same for all viewers and subject matter is chosen by the
videographer. Editing digital video requires proficiency with video editing software and has higher computer hardware requirements. Also, displaying video over the Internet requires more bandwidth. Due to these difficulties, the task of creating video-based tours is often left to professionals.
Various software products can be used (individually or in conjunction with each other) to create media rich virtual tours. See methods developed by MOVES Institute at the
Naval Postgraduate School.
Web Based Virtual Tours
For most of businesses a virtual tour must be accessible from every where and the major soloution is a web based virtual tour , besides A rich and useful virtual tour is not just a panoramic picture. for giving a better experience you must gather lots of data types like videos, texts, pictures and etc in an interactive web content. there is lots of ways to gather your data in a mixture web content like using rich content builders (like Java applet,
Adobe Flash,... ) or Web content management system (like
Virtual Tour Engine,
CampusTours,...)
See also
External links
-
-
-
-
-
- Connecticut Home and BusinessVirtual Tours
- viewAt.org - The World in panoramic
- Virtual Tour of Niagara Falls
Virtual Tour
The Virtual Tour of the University provides you with the opportunity to see the University without having to visit.
Virtual Tour of the Pitt Rivers Museum
Virtual Tour Of Campus And City
University of Worcester :: Virtual Tour Home
Campus entrance (Malvern Gate) Virtual Campus Tour: You are about to see the leafy, parkland campus that is home to the University of Worcester.
Virtual tour - Ocean Village Holidays
Ocean Village 2007
Virtual Tour : Accommodation tour : King's College London
The College has over 2,600 places available in its own residences, including catered and self-catered halls of residence and apartments, most of which are in central London.
University of Hertfordshire
Add a new dimension to your web site with a 360 degree interactive virtual reality panoramic tour
Virtual Tour - 360 Virtual Tour Provider - London (UK)
Virtual tour! If you know how to click a camera just use our 360 degree lens, HDR software and upload your virtual tours automatically. Free virtual tour hosting, No Ongoing Costs ...
tourhome.jpg
University Virtual Tour
Tour of the University of Bath Campus ... The Parade: Library, Claverton rooms and Parade Bar, Electronic & Electrical Engineering, steps to University lake
