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What is a Virtual Tour?
A virtual tour is a way to simulate a real location using a series of videos or still images. Other multimedia elements, such as music, sound effects, or floor plans, can also be included.
These tours help create a realistic experience of the actual place and are useful for showing areas that are difficult to access. They also offer a good alternative to fieldwork, especially when cost, time, or logistics make it challenging for people to visit in person.
Key Takeaways
- A virtual tour is a digital way to explore real places using videos, images, and other multimedia elements.
- The main types are video tours, 360° panoramic tours, still photo tours, and floor plan tours.
- Virtual tours involve combining visuals like photos and videos with interactive features to let users explore different views of a place.
- Virtual tours, including 360° virtual tours, are commonly used in education, tourism, real estate, and more.
- Virtual tours are flexible and can be repeated, but they lack sensory experiences and need basic computer skills.
How Virtual Tour Works
A virtual tour uses different multimedia elements like images, videos, sound effects, and sometimes interactive features to simulate a real place.
The process starts with capturing high-quality photos or videos, often using special equipment like 360° cameras. These visuals are then combined using software to create a smooth experience.
The software also allows for adding extra information, such as text, audio guides, and floor plans, which make the tour more detailed. Users can explore the location by moving through different viewpoints, zooming in and out, and interacting with the content, providing an immersive experience.
Who Uses Virtual Tours?
Virtual tours are used in many fields to help provide more information than just text-oriented links and websites:
Types of Virtual Tours
Several types of virtual tours exist, including:
Virtual Tour Software
Knowing how to use virtual tour software is crucial for creating a seamless and engaging virtual experience. If you’re creating a website, adding a virtual tour can greatly increase user engagement and give visitors an immersive way to explore what you offer.
Here’s a brief overview of some popular virtual tour software:
- Concept3D: An enterprise platform that provides 3D renderings, interactive maps, and virtual tours, often used in higher education and large businesses.
- TeliportMe: A simple software ideal for small businesses, offering unlimited 3D models and Google Street View integration.
- Real tour vision: Created for professional photographers in real estate, offering HD video, 360° panoramas, and property websites.
- Pano2VR: Converts panoramic photos into interactive virtual tours, working with all modern browsers.
- Kuula: Easy-to-use software for creating 360 virtual tours, widely used in real estate and architecture.
Virtual Tour Examples
Here are some examples of virtual tours based on the type of tour:
- Travel bloggers often post video tours, guiding users through museums, cities, tourist attractions, and much more.
- Google Arts & Culture provides 360° panoramic tours of famous landmarks and museums. Here are 10 museums you can explore by clicking around the images.
- The National Gallery in London offers to explore virtual galleries and paintings so you can view high-quality images of artworks in your own space. This is a great example of the still photo tour.
- Matterport showcases 3D floor plan tours where you can explore fully immersive 3D spaces. You can click on different areas within the space to view them from various angles.
Virtual Tour Pros and Cons
- Available to everyone, with flexible access that can be customized to meet users’ needs
- Offer a wider perspective than normal views
- Can be repeated, which is especially useful in education, as it helps reinforce students’ learning
- Basic computer skills are needed to use virtual tours
- Have limited navigation options and don’t offer sensory experiences, which some users might not like
- Lack the element of surprise that you might get when exploring a real location
- Can’t fully show the true three-dimensional nature of objects
The Bottom Line
Discovering how to use a virtual tour provides an immersive way to explore real places using videos, 360° images, and floor plans. Commonly used in education, tourism, and real estate, they offer a flexible and cost-effective alternative to visiting in person. Understanding the virtual tour unit definition helps make the most of this technology, despite some limitations.
FAQs
What is the virtual tour in simple terms?
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References
- INSIDE the LOUVRE | Exclusive Tour Inside This World Famous Museum ???? Full Ep. 1 (Youtube)
- 10 Museums You Can Explore Right Here, Right Now — Google Arts & Culture (Artsandculture.google)
- Virtual tours | Visiting | National Gallery, London (Nationalgallery.org)
- #floorplans – Virtual Tours (Matterport)
