THINKING VIRTUAL REALITY…
With pandemic restrictions many businesses who rely on physical spaces have turned to virtual tours to provide a sense of the environment for users who are currently unable to visit these locations. Adopters include retailers, estate agency, cultural institutions, universities, wedding venues and outdoor attractions.
Virtual tours are simulations of existing locations, composed of a sequence of panoramic ‘stitched’ images which allow users to step ‘inside’ a building, venue or location from any device. This technology has been slowly maturing in the background for years, many users have been exposed to the basic interaction paradigm through examples such as Google’s Street View.
Tours can include music or a narration describing products or points of interest. The tour can equally be enhanced with buttons providing additional text, still images and video this gives users the power to interact and get a better understanding of products and locations.
Virtual Tours can be used by just about every industry:
Showrooms & Retail – A virtual tour can enable companies with showrooms to exhibit products 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Providing a 360 view of a showroom is a good way to allows potential customers to view products.
Education – Schools and Universities are able to showcase the campus, classrooms and other facilities
Estate Agents and home builders – helps potential buyers view a home before visiting.
Tourism – Virtual tours make this desire a reality by providing travellers with a clear view of attractions, hotels and restaurants.
Aside being a valuable marketing asset virtual tours can also boost online ranking and social media presence with likes and shares.
A virtual tour provides visual information to your potential audience beyond text pictures.
A photograph is worth 1,000 words, a virtual tour is worth 1,000 photographs!