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What is a Virtual Reality Tour?

A Virtual Reality Tour is also often called a VR Tour or more commonly a Virtual Tour. A Virtual Tour can refer to any one of three main types and often you do not know which type of tour you are looking at until you read all the small print and view the tour carefully itself. It can be very confusing. Here are the three types defined in simple terms:

  1. A series of flat (normal) 2D photographs displayed on a website with accompanying text.  These may be accompanied by video and even audio excerpts. Sometimes it takes while to realise that what you are viewing because a simple panning in or out of a 2D photograph could make you think that you are viewing the second type of Virtual Tour;
  2. A 360 by 360 degree panorama is constructed by joining several high definition digital photographs taken from a single point which is termed a panorama.  This is then processed using computer software into a movie, the format of which is typically Java, Quicktime or Flash.  During processing the tripod is often removed making the tour appear in virtual space.  The viewer can navigate around the movie by either the use of navigational buttons, dragging the screen with the mouse or by both of these methods.  Sometimes these panoramas have the ceiling (sky) or floor (ground) missing and these are referred to as a cylindrical panorama.  Other panoramas can be even more restricted as they don’t allow the viewer to pan in a total 360 degree circle.
  3. A Virtual Tour is a combination of two or more panoramas that are somehow linked. This can be via hotspots ( typically an arrow button that when clicked takes you to another panorama), thumbnail images, a floor plan, a map or a pull down menu. These links provide the viewer with a walkthrough of an environment from room to room or place to place;
  4. 3D renderings and fly-throughs created using CAD CAM software with architectural plans to create an environment from scratch usually before it is built. This technique is often used to create virtual environments in the PC games world.

What sort of Virtual Tours does VR Vistas create?

VR Vistas creates Virtual Tours in the second and third category. described above in the What is a Virtual Reality Tour?

What are your most innovative types of Virtual Tour?

Perhaps the most innovative ones include the following features:

  • A time lapse tour in which the user has control to change sunrise to sunset to night time;
  • An Autotour which is a tour that automatically takes the viewer around the key places in a venue without the user having to interact;
  • A real person (not an avatar) inside the tour - uses video, green screen techniques and the latest virtual tour technology.  This is probably our most innovative feature which makes our virtual tours stand out.  It also increases the potential number of applications tremendously;
  • Video inside the tour;
  • A live webcam feed of the viewer shown inside the tour - this usually stuns the visitor,
  • Feedback forms inside the tour;
  • Black and white photos inside the tour which expand and jump up when clicked on and then flood into colour;
  • Live clocks which show the correct time anywhere in the world.

Can I view the Virtual Tour absolutely full screen?

Yes. Absolutely full screen. If necessary, select Get Flash Player to get the latest copy. When the Virtual Tour is sized dynamically (see Virtual tours) you will be able to drag the window corner to view the Virtual Tour at any size.

How do I receive my Virtual Reality Tour?

VR Vistas will email you the link to your virtual tour.  This can be easily added to your website.

Can I embed the tour on my website?

Virtual tours do not function well when embedded in a web page.  There are two main reasons for this.

Firstly, your web page will take much longer to load. We optimise all tours, not only for quality against bandwidth but also for size to minimise loading times.  When the first panorama has finished loading, the entire rest of the tour is loaded in cache in the background.  That way, when the visitor requests the next panorama it normally becomes instantly available.

Secondly, when a visitor clicks the Full Screen button inside an embedded tour, the tour correctly fills the entire screen.  However, if the visitor then clicks on say a link inside the tour that opens another window, or if the visitor is working in dual screen mode and clicks anywhere on the other screen, then the original full screen panorama reverts to its original size inside the embedded web page.  This is a function or should I say 'feature' of Adobe Flash and not the virtual tour software.

As a result it is preferable for the visitor to click on a textual or graphical link to initiate the tour loading.  We can provide a suitable graphic of the tour for your website if required.

What about Virtual Tour hosting?

Hosting of your tour on lightening fast servers is included in the first year's fees. Normally we host this in a subdomain containing the client's venue name e.g. for venue "Neverneverland" we would host this at web address neverneverland.vrvistas.com   Hosting can be renewed after the first year if required. The Client may also host the tour themselves.

Do you create high definition Virtual Tours?

The size of a tour can vary depending on the required resolution. A high definition or high resolution tour can be around 3MB whereas a low resolution tour can be 1MB or less. Generally we try to keep the size to between 1.2MB and 1.5MB. Lower resolution tours can be made available for areas with lower bandwidth. It is really a question of balancing the size of the tour against loading time because the greater the resolution, the longer it takes to load.

How long does a Virtual Tour take to produce?

A photographer will spend about half an hour per basic panorama (room or location).  However, a time lapse tour can take considerably longer, especially waiting for the optimum conditions, such as that perfect sunset!  

Extra features can take longer and production time can only be realistically assessed once the client has specified their exact requirements.

What is the format of the Virtual Tours?

All tours are created in Adobe Flash® format.  We view Adobe Flash as the most pervasive format and the most flexible format.  About 99% of computers already have this pre-loaded.

What areas of interest do your Virtual Tours cover?

VR Vistas'  Virtual Tours are best suited to venues that are information-rich. Time-lapse virtual tours are best suited to places where dramatic visual changes occur over time, changing the ambience and attraction of a location.

Here are some examples: Art galleries, Campuses, Cars, Castles, Colleges, Conference centres, Country houses, Crime scenes, Cultural centres, Educational establishments, Fitness clubs, Golf clubs, Heritage Centres, Hotels, Landmarks, Leisure clubs, Museums, Parties, Ships, Showrooms, Sports centres, Stadiums, Student accommodation, Tourist sites, Universities and Weddings.

Where is VR Vistas Located?

We are based at the end of the Gower peninsula, west of Swansea, in South Wales in the UK, about 40 miles from Cardiff.  Nearby are Virtual Tours of  Rhossili Beach and Clyne Gardens.

Will VR Vistas do a Virtual Tour outside Wales or even further afield?

Yes, we are happy to offer our professional services to clients both nationally and internationally. We have already created Virtual Tours in several foreign countries.

OK, so I'd like a Virtual Tour...

Select the Pricing menu link and follow the procedures for pricing tours.