hebig.org/blog
personal webnode of Haiko Hebig

As close to a personal visit as it gets

Immersive panoramas, also known as spherical panoramas or virtual reality panoramas are 360° x 180° panoramas one can navigate with a QuickTime or Java viewer. I haven't been a fan of this kind of panoramas in the past, but changed my mind recently: in contrast to a video where you have to follow a fixed route through a place, you can actually explore it on your own with spherical panoramas. Have a look at this set of examples of a wind tunnel. Exploring all six panoramas gives a good impression of the topology, the dimension and the "feeling" of that place, probably as close to an actual visit as it gets. (Also note the "French Concrete" exterior style typical for industrial buildings in France and Belgium.) These examples recorded at CERN in Geneva also carry audio tracks, making it an even more exciting experience. Of course it does not stop here. In academic and scientific use, software based analysis of spherical panoramas is where the real fun starts. The website of Metigo Software of Leipzig has some examples.