As soon as you have a 360×180 ° image, it becomes possible to create a dynamic representation in which the observer can browse the image. He can choose to zoom in, back and choose the orientation of the gaze. These techniques exist now for a few years, especially since the release of QuickTime. This type of representation is also called a virtual tour.
Note that unlike the representation of the complete 360 image, this display mode represents only a part of the image at a given moment. Example of representation below with our example image:
The navigation is done with the mouse, or sometimes according to the software, directly from buttons that symbolize the three navigation dimensions.
To create one, you can use stand-alone software to install on your computer, or you can rely on specialized hosting services in this area.
REPRESENTATION OF VIRTUAL VISIT
Dynamic representation of a 360-degree image requires viewing software that simply fits into a web page. These software are free, the most classic are:
- Pannellum (English coming soon)
- Marzipano
- Photo Sphere Viewer
The representation is defined by a configuration that is built manually or through dedicated software with a graphical interface.
CREATE VIRTUAL VISITS WITH DEDICATED SOFTWARE
There is a lot of software, however I would retain mainly three:
- Pano2VR: easy to use, perfect for initiation
- PanoTour / Pro : General public and professional versions published by the company Kolor. Following the takeover by the company Gopro, this software has been discontinued and is therefore no longer available for purchase.
- Krpano : Is a kind of toolbox with many functions to create virtual tours
To make first tests, the Pano2VR software gives good results very quickly. Just specify the input 360×180 ° image, then specify the desired output format (html5, Quicktime, Flash). The result is in the form of one or more files, and navigation in the image is done from the Internet browser.