What Makes a Virtual Tour?

Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 110 Location: Carlisle, PA

Mapwing is virtual tour software. However, there seems to be a lot of debate over what exactly is a virtual tour. The term virtual tour is most closely linked with real estate and the selling of properties. Most realtors provide some type of virtual tour for their high-end properties. Tours are usually built around panoramas, galleries of pictures, or short movies. Sometimes, if you are a lucky, you will find one with a floor plan and a voice over. In my opinion, none of these are not true virtual tours.

So what makes a true virtual tour? Well, first let us consider the process of taking a real tour. If I were to visit Monticello, I would be guided through the building and the grounds. On a real tour, I move through space, visiting rooms and noting items of interest. I am also provided with specific information about what I am experiencing. A tour is an active process build around information, movement, and three dimensional space.

By comparison, most so called virtual tours are a passive, two dimensional experience. Simply put, they are used as a gimmick to attract attention to specific places or web sites and have little value for the end user. Shouldn’t a virtual tour provide a similar experience and information as real onsite tour?

One of the best types of virtual tour experiences can be seen in first person shooter computer games. By and large, these are entirely 3D worlds that enable a user to walk around and interact in an immersive world. Unfortunately, creating this type of tour is time consuming, resource intensive, and costly. In other words, it wouldn’t work for someone like a realtor who needs to create several virtual tours a month and have decent profit margins.

Mapwing solves the problems of virtual tour creation by using everyday digital photographs. And, by using points and connections, it enables immersive tours that allow users to walkthrough a given location. Mapwing tours are true virtual tours, encouraging an active, movement-based, first person experience.

For more information, try the Wikipedia definition of Virtual Tour.