How 360 Photography Has Changed The Outlook of Modern Imagery?

With an advancement in the digital era, photography has jumped on to a level where you can easily combine many photos to create a single and immersive photo. Commonly referred to as 360 photography, the concept further expanded due to the birth of social media sharing, where people started admiring this technologically advanced creativity and implementing it into their shared photos. To give you a better idea of this fascinating trend, let us introduce it.


360 Photos at a glance: a relevant definition

A 360 photo is panoramic image that combines an interactive experience. This is also referred to as a virtual tour and involves the use of a spherical presentation of a captured environment. The result is that a viewer is able to see the whole image from many angles and not just one (as in a regular photo). It is more like experience where one is able to witness something beyond the vicinity. It can be considered as if the viewer is present at the place and admiring its beauty. The best part is that 360 photography is not just limited to still images. One can also use the concept in videos for viewing a place, using advanced cameras.

Using virtual tours in various photography categories

With the help of advanced cameras and applications, and the ability to share images on social media, 360 images have become quite popular. Thus, many photography categories have started using this technology. A few of them are mentioned below:

•  Event/Wedding photography – A great implementation that has changed the way wedding photos were taken before.

• Interior photography – This concept involves creating virtual tours of rooms in real estate properties, hotels, industries, etc.

• eCommerce – Products on ecommerce websites are also being implemented in photoshoots with this technology for a better view.

• Social media – Several social media brands are using this creative technology to interact with their viewers.

•  Landscape – Many people are not able to reach the top of a mountain and other adventurous places. However, using a virtual tour, they can at least feel what it is like being there.

Using your first gear to capture a 360 photo

A 360˚ image involves combining several images using a software. In addition, to capture such images, the following equipment can help you out.

• DSLR: If you plan on capturing really professional and high-quality photos then this is the gear you need. Using a fish-eye lens with a DSLR boosts the panoramic magic into an image skillfully. It does require particular accessories and time-consuming image processing afterwards.
   
• 360˚ camera: Many companies are selling these nowadays as these are much easier to use compared to DSLRs. While there is no need for adding after effects to the images, it does require purchasing a good-quality camera with it.
   
• Smartphone camera: One of the easiest ways to take 360 photography is with the help of your phone camera. Some phone accompany pre-installed apps to offer such photography, while others can do so by installing apps like Google Street View. It may not be as high in quality as others may, but it does make one familiar to the experience of a 360˚ image. 

Tips for Great Content to Elaborate your Chicago Virtual Tour Projects

Photos are awesome. In many instances, a 360˚ image can also do the trick in impressing someone. While these modern images are able to say a lot about a product, property or place, it may require something more to define its actual meaning. Therefore, for your Chicago virtual tour project, you may need to add some content for better explanation.

With the advancement in photography, virtual tours are being implemented as marketing tools in businesses. While the primary focus needs to be on the image part, the quality of the content added to the 360˚ image also needs to be top notch for impressing potential clients.

For instance – if you are looking forward to creating a virtual presentation of a car’s interior, not every viewer may be able to understand a car’s dashboard. There are many other examples of such products where an image is not enough to explain a section of a place or product. In such situations, good quality content supports in explaining the difficult parts.

Ease of access to the world of information with modern equipment has encouraged viewers to demand for better presentations when viewing media. Business owners who plan to create Chicago virtual tour projects may want to check out the following tips that will help in adding impressive content to the virtual photography sessions.

Tips for adding great content to your virtual tour
 
•  Focusing on a detailed presentation your product or place for your customers.

Sometimes a simple picture is not enough for communicating with the audience. You have to display a detailed representation of the product or place you are showing them through your 360 photos. Thus, learn what aspects can be presented in the image before bringing it in front of the world to explore.

•  Learning from the customers about your virtual tour.

Many a times, an honest feedback of your presentation is enough to show you the weaknesses in your project. Therefore, after demonstrating your product or place’s virtual photography, you may want to ask for feedback from your viewers. You may also ask for further tips on what to add and what to remove from the gallery so that you get an idea of what they would find interesting in the scene.

•  Learn about the more positive sections of your business tour and focus on them.

Virtual photography may comprise of certain parts that are highly admired by people. Try to learn about such sections, which the audience loved to see. Such distinct parts in your virtual image may give you a better way of understanding the likes and dislikes of your potential clients.

•  Sometimes photographing at a specific time of the day can create wonders.

Great content may also be generated at a particular time. This is quite true when it comes to taking pictures. So, make sure you choose the best time of the day for creating beautiful 360 photos.

•  Explain unclear angles of your subject while shooting a photo.

A virtual photo comprises of several photos combined together. This means that there are many images taken from various angles in a Chicago virtual tour project. It may also be possible that a certain angle is not clear to the viewer. For such sections, adding content for explanation is a great idea. This way, your customers will understand your products better.

Is Google 360 Virtual Tour Helpful in Real-World Travel?

With the right tools, you may travel around the world without even the need to leave your room. Though it is a virtual experience, yet it has been able to create a revolution around the world. Google 360 virtual tour has been an awesome invention that comes straight out of someone’s dream. The best part is that this technology has been added to people’s computers, tablets, and even smartphones. To top it off, addition of virtual reality headsets further enhances the experience of a virtual tour.

Traveling made virtually easy

While traveling virtually may not be as fun as a real-life experience, yet it can be considered as the next best thing. Moreover, science explains enjoyment to be a signal to the brain that makes one happy. An illusion of a place visible through our eyes gives us a feeling of actually being present there. While at a budding stage, virtual tours will become more and more vivid and may even be able to fool our brains in believing as if we are actually present at a virtual scene.

Will virtual tourism take over?
As per the latest surveys, people who are witnessing Google 360 virtual tour applications find them entertaining. With new content to look at every day, it may seem unlikely that the era of virtual reality will fade away. Moreover, adding tourism to the concept of VR has further encouraged viewers to try out this technology for traveling. Just imagine that you are in the mood of visiting the Grand Canyon while relaxing at your home on the other side of the globe. All you need to do is start the 360 image or video of the place and view the scene with (or without) a VR headset. It would be fun to check it out as you may not have experienced images and video like this before.
Using virtual tours as demonstration videos of actual tours

While VR tours are fun, they cannot truly replace real-world tours, for now. The vividness and multiple experiences in a real tour is felt all over the body physically as well. However, a virtual tour is not able to do so. However, instead of neglecting the technology, it can be applied to show demos of actual places for giving tourists an idea of what the place is like. It is similar to asking a fellow tourist, who just returned from a destination. Although, this time, it will be similar to a firsthand feedback, as the one interested in the destination will witness the place through a 360 video or image.

The Google 360 virtual tour technology may seem superficial for now, but its advancement in various fields and applications will soon bring out its full potential to the world. In addition, as long as there is original content to show the world, there is little chance for people to get bored of this awesome technique. Besides, there is much to experience through this budding technology.