What is a Virtual Tour?

A virtual tour is most commonly associated with the viewing of real estate but can apply to a wide range of applications. The common thread is having one or more sets of 360-degree views that show places, destinations, scenes or objects as if the website visitor was looking at real life views through their computer. Virual tours may be created using conventional still photographs, spin-around photographic images (also called 360° views, panoramic or immersive views, iPIX, even virtual reality), or combinations of both.

Sometimes virtual tours can be linked to the the online visitor on an armchair ride through a number of selected images. Computer-generated images can also be used to create virtual tours. To confuse the situation further, ‘virtual tour’ is often used to describe an interactive floorplan that links to a photo gallery.

Regardless of which definition is used, virtual tours offer something out of the ordinary. They add images that graphically explain a story. They help to position a product or facility in the marketplace. They demand interest and attention. They answer many website visitors’ needs for an interactive experience. Virtual tours can reduce ‘risks’ associated with major purchases – like travel destinations – by screening out those choices that clearly have little appeal.

How is a 360° panoramic image made?

How can you look around a view or a room via your personal computer? It all starts with a high-resolution digital camera and special lens.

Three types of lens systems may be used.

Normal lens can be used to take a number of images (between 8 and 12) that are stitched together to create an enveloping environment. With so many images to combine, image seaming and adjustment is slow and time-consuming which is why this method is rarely used in commercial applications.

The lens systems most commonly used today are the parabolic fisheye lens and the single-shot 360° lens.

A fisheye is an ultra wide-angle lens that captures an image approximately 183° vertically by 183° horizontally. Two images are taken back-to-back and joined together to create a panorama which can be viewed over the Internet. The camera is mounted on a special rotator affixed to a tripod. Once the first image (called a ‘hemisphere’) has been captured, the camera is swiveled 180° to capture the opposite hemisphere. Click points on the rotator indicate the precise position for the next shot. The extra three degrees on each image provides an overlap so the two images may be precisely aligned during the production process.

Each hemisphere looks like a round photograph where all vertical and horizontal lines and surfaces appear curved. Special software is used to de-warp the images and remove most of the curvature. The two hemispheres are then stitched together and the seam obliterated using image editing software. During this production phase, the photography may be enhanced to produce images with excellent clarity, brightness and colour saturation.

Single lens systems produce similar results to the fisheye except they produce a single 360° image instead of two hemispheres that have to be seamed. With single shot systems, an inverted cone-shaped, mirror-finished reflector mounted above the camera, captures the surrounding environment (basically lower than the upper edge of the reflector). While a single 360° lens system simplifies part of the production process, it can be at the expense of image quality and colour saturation. With this system, a digital camera has to capture an environment that is 360° horizontal by 80 to 110° vertical in a single shot whereas the fisheye captures 185° by 185° with each shot.

Post-production enhancements

All panoramic photography has to be modified to remove the tripod/rotator. This can be achieved through the use of a plug or by cloning some of the adjacent floor area as a mask.

Images produced by a single shot lens requires special adjustment. The top of the image has to be cropped to remove the mirror unit that sits above the camera. Panoramic images produced by the single shot system typically have limited or no vertical scrolling capability and have to be taken above eye-level which can give unnatural perspectives at times.

Panoramic images produced by Internet Pictures also have near full vertical scrolling capability and -where IPIX is used- full vertical movement. This capability is ideally-suited where an atrium, staircase, lighting, drapes or flooring are important features of an interior or where the majesty of surrounding trees or views need to be captured.

All panoramic images rely on yet more software to give them scrolling and zoom capabilities and to load them into a web page viewer. Completed panoramic images allow the website visitor to pan around a room or view, and to zoom in and out more closely examine different features along the way.

Virtual tours link one or more panoramic and still photographs together giving a person a ‘feeling’ about the property or destination.

What is an Interactive Floor Plan?

An interactive floorplan starts out as a floorplan of a property drawn up by the real estate agent or a service-provider then sent to the tour developer like Internet Pictures in an electronic format. The agent or production house sometimes provides the still photographs taken at the property but the production house will always take the panoramic photography as it requires the use of special equipment and trained photographers.

Icons (also called ‘hot spots’) are superimposed on the floorplan image at the positions representing the images that are available for viewing. Sometimes, different icons are used to distinguish the panoramic images from stills. A few of the more advanced virtual tour developers like Internet Pictures can also install hot spots within their panoramic images allowing the visitor to click on to inter-connecting images.

Interactive floorplans are invaluable at putting photographic images into context. Which rooms are next to each other? What is the natural ‘flow’ through the home? The use of panoramic images is an excellent next step as they impart more about the ‘feel’ of the property.

You get what you pay for

Just as a picture is like a thousand words, there is information value in every virtual tour – from the simplest to the most complex one. The secret is understanding what added ‘feeling’ and ‘insights’ a more highly-featured panoramic view of the main rooms of a home (for example) can convey that cannot be captured by still photography or words alone. It might be the layout or special features of the room - even the ‘flow’ between rooms. The ‘zoom-in’ feature available with most virtual tours allows website visitors to take a closer look at perspectives of interest.

Virtual tours that simply comprise a collection of panoramic or still photographs represent a lost opportunity. It says, “here … form your own impressions about what we have to offer”. It does not lead, guide or explain. Properties and products are never marketed this way with traditional media promotional channels – so why compromise this very public part of your client’s marketing mix.

Pictorial images tie together better and make more sense when they are combined with a general overview or story. Some virtual tours like the taken by Internet Pictures, take this process a step further by displaying image-specific text as well as a property overview.

The availability of image-specific text allows an agent to go into greater detail about highlight features. For example, a kitchen could have granite bench tops, a walk-in pantry, an imported hostess oven, marble floor, a filtered water connection, etc. – too much detail to be included in the property overview. Ideally, this information should appear when images of the kitchen are displayed. Internet Pictures offers this feature on most of its product range. It allows the marketing agent great scope for a more focussed story about the property and its distinctive features.

Floor plans also help relate photographic images to certain rooms - interactive floorplans do this even better.

Most panoramic images automatically start rotating once the image is fully loaded. The main image display window has controls that alter the rotation speed and direction. Drag the mouse-activated icon in the direction you wish to see and the panoramic image scrolls that direction – sideway, up and down. Move the icon closer to the edge of the image, the picture scrolls faster, and slower when moved towards the centre. Some systems use navigation tools to achieve these effects. They all include the ability to zoom in and out of different parts of the image. The ‘resolution’ of the digital image is an important determinant of the extent to which an image can be zoomed without breaking down into individual pixels.

How to judge good quality photography

Quality is more than the composition of the shots. The type of equipment as much as the skill of the photographer determine the clarity, colour saturation and brightness of the images. This is more of a challenge with panoramic photography which uses fixed focus lens.

With 360° panoramic photography, the fewer images that are required to capture a 360° environment, the duller and fuzzier the images become. This tendency can be overcome using cameras with substantially higher pixel counts.

If you intend using the Internet for part of your property’s marketing mix, it pays to ensure it is not let down through the use of inferior panoramic photography.

How to stand out from the crowd

The search engines on the websites of real estate agents and industry portals like realestate.com.au or realestateview.com.au or domain.com.au, have largely solved the problem of properties being ‘found’. Effective property promotion on the Internet requires the use of a similar set of skills used to create high-quality magazine advertisements. This includes quality photography and skilfully honed descriptive text.

The challenge is to properly ‘position’ a property for its target buyer profile using a combination of information and imagery. Some Internet solutions offer greater capabilities that can be tapped by the professional solution-providers to supporting your marketing program.

One example is the extensive range of virtual tour solutions available from Internet Pictures Services.

Virtual Tour solutions by Internet Pictures

Internet Pictures offers different products for different markets. While the features may appear to be similar there are differences, such as screen sizes, image quality, and the availability of add-on options like voice overs and neighbourhood tours.

Products
Virtual Tours - For Residential Real Estate
WebLink Tours - For Commercial Real Estate & Industrial Real Estate
eBrochures - For corporate presentations

Internet Pictures offers an entry level 'Gallery' product which presents a number of panoramic images in a web page presentation. Its large main display window shows the active image and all available photographs appear beneath as thumbnails. Thumbnail images are simply activated by clicking on an image.

Their Interactive Floorplan is the next step up. It has all the features of the Gallery product, more images, image-specific text, and an interactive floorplan complete with hot spots.

Positioned at the next higher level is their Storyboard. Storyboard adds panoramic images to Image Pack, even more images – both panoramic and stills taken by Internet Pictures’ national network of local photographers - a property overview, and image-specific text but no floor plan. Want a floorplan as well? Then the Feature Tour is the answer. Interactive floorplan with hot spots, panoramic and still images, property overview, image-specific text. It’s the top of the range for popular dialup Internet connections.

Order a Storyboard tour and you can option up and get a virtual movie as well, which is best viewed on broadband – you therefore get two tours in one. Their ultimate product is the Complete Inspection. It is the Feature Tour with the Virtual Movie.

For further information about this subject or to comment, please email moreInfo@internetpictures.com.au