VR photography

VR photography, or virtual reality photography, is the interactive viewing of wide-angle panoramic photographs, generally encompassing a 360-degree circle or a spherical view.

VR photography is the art of capturing or creating a complete scene as a single image, as viewed when rotating about a single central position. Normally created by stitching together a number of photographs taken in a multi-row 360-degree rotation or using an omnidirectional camera, the complete image can also be a totally computer-generated effect, or a composite of photography and computer generated objects. The history of VR photography is human-computer interaction in which a real or imaginary environment is simulated and users interact with and manipulate that world.

VR panoramas are viewed through movie players, such as Apple's QuickTime software, which may be part of a Web browser plug-in or a stand-alone player application. QuickTime VR (QTVR) was the original interactive panorama format, but there are now a growing number of different players and plug-ins. Many of these are based on Flash, but some use Java, SilverLight, custom programming using OpenGL and WebGL, and even JavaScript. Most of the players can be seen in the Panorama Player Comparisons project.

VR photography can also be used for displaying objects in 360 (360 photography, commonly referred to as 360 Object VR, 360 product photography, 360 product images and 360 product views). These are created by capturing a series of images as the object rotates over a 360 rotation (camera stays in a fixed position). The output will be a series of individual images (typically JPG format) that can then be composed into an interactive 360 view using HTML5, JavaScript and Flash. 360 Object VR is commonly used in ecommerce to increased conversion rates (online sales).

See also

• Image stitching
• Virtual tour
• MotionVR
• IPIX

External links

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• The World Wide Panorama Project - a series of ongoing worldwide VR Photography events
• IVRPA - The International VR Photography Association
• Virtual tours of Britain - Quicktime VR photography