Videos or Virtual Tours?
With an estimated nine out of 10 homebuyers heading online to conduct their initial house searches, property marketing professionals are well aware of the importance of offering some kind of virtual viewing to the internet audience.
Potential purchasers are keen to get a feel for a home in advance of committing to seeing it in person, and both 360 virtual tours and videos offer agents the opportunity to showcase properties in an online environment. But which medium is best for property marketing purposes? In his property column this week, US real estate broker Ray Pugel said: “Virtual tours of homes have been the mainstay for almost a decade, but now, the showing of homes on the Internet is transcending to video.” Is this really the case? Here we look at what each technology has to offer property marketing teams.
Videos Send Strong Property Marketing Messages
With online video site YouTube being the second most popular site in the world, and its owners Google sitting at number one, it is no surprise that the video medium receives a good billing in online searches. A full production video allows for a level of direction that cannot be achieved with 360 virtual tours – making it the perfect medium for a property marketing team looking to push home a message, while a carefully crafted videoette can speak more subtly about a property’s potential.
Virtual Tours Offer Autonomy to Explore
However, agents should not rush to mothball virtual tour technology, as it offers autonomy to the viewer, allowing them to tailor the tours to their own queries and questions. Indeed those looking to present a property in a style that suits all would-be buyers may wish to continue offering a choice of virtual viewing medium in order to reap the benefits of both.
photoplan.co.uk
Filed under 360 virtual tours, Articles, Sell your property with a virtual tour by on Jun 1st, 2011. Comment. 
Image via Wikipedia
Virtual tours for websites
With technological advancements, convenience is a by-product as services are improved. Now, there is the possibility of utilizing 360 virtual tours or panoramic virtual tours through a virtual tour provider although perhaps you are not yet familiar what a virtual tour is. A virtual tour is a method or process that provides graphical presentations of a property to make them available for the internet user or website visitors to see. Typically, this process involves the simulation of a certain location that really exists and this may consist of moving or still images, virtual models of actual locations and videos.
To make the sites more presentable, the webmasters are making use of virtual tours and they add music, narrations, texts and animations. Using the virtual tours can be very easy since many of the sites don’t require plug-ins or downloads. The real estate market has benefited much from these virtual tours and they are using these widely. The users can now look at several properties, from homes to buildings at different angles. These days, many industries are employing this type of technology as a marketing strategy for endorsing their products and services.
Among the different excellent things offered with the utilization of virtual tours especially when used for real estate promotions is convenience because the prospective buyers can view the properties without having to see them physically. Moreover, they are able to navigate through the floors by clicking the maps and they can easily transfer between rooms and look at the property with a clear image. Because of these great advantages and conveniences, the real estate market brokers are now utilizing both virtual tours UK and panoramic virtual tours in their webpages. In order to lure other brokers and potential buyers, they make sure that their sites look attractive to the visitors.
Nowadays, the online users and visitors have benefited from the virtual tours. The website owners are also able to take many advantages from these since of the online viewers, more than 50% decide to take of the actual location after having taken the virtual tour. Also, the buying decisions of prospective customers can be influence through these virtual tours. These can increase traffic and increase the potential clients recall-value. Furthermore, the retail industries can gain more revenues as they display their showrooms. Real estate websites that used the virtual tours on various properties have effectively lured several clients and definitely increased their sales.
These virtual tours are really great for both entrepreneurs and customers so that they can save more time and they can use the site comfortably and conveniently. These can turn images to a flat 2-D world into a full 360 virtual tours to represent the real look and appearance of a property and the website visitors can take a look at the properties online as if they were actually there. Thus, virtual tours have can be very useful for companies, firms and businesses. With the use of the virtual tours, the websites become more inviting for internet users and due to the usefulness of these programs to different clients, they’ve been used by other markets beside the real estate industry.
ideaanglers.com
Filed under 360 virtual tours, Articles by on Jun 1st, 2011. Comment.
Tribute to Escher in Barcelona
Virtual tour of Escher work
this is an exception – a full CG generated panorama – don't expect to find it anywhere!
I made it to give special recognition to M.C.Escher's work, a very talented artist widely known. This impossible world was inspired by Escher's litograph "Relativity". Be careful not to get sick wandering around!
Filed under Collection of the best panoramas by on Jun 19th, 2011. Comment.
Virtual tour top honor
POTSDAM — SUNY Potsdam has received an award for its one-of-a-kind virtual campus tour.
The college's online tour took best of category at the annual SUNY Council for University Advancement Awards for Excellence ceremony, held June 9 in Saratoga Springs. The tour was recognized in the division of electronic communications and interactive media for its dynamic interface as well as its creative and clean design.
"It's completely unique — there's nothing else like it on the Web in terms of the navigation interface or the dynamic relationships," said Deborah L. Dudley, the college's director of marketing and communications. "Really you are exploring Potsdam based on your own interests as an individual. That's how we want students to come to the college: we want you to explore your personal interests and passions, so we set up the tour to mimic that."
Unlike most virtual college tours, SUNY Potsdam's is self-led and customizable based on users' interests. It begins as a blank page upon which free-floating bubbles appear and interconnect based on users' searches, ultimately creating a web of photographs and videos about SUNY Potsdam people, buildings, activities and organizations rather than an aerial map of grounds and buildings.
The bubbles can be selected and moved at will: drag one across the screen and the rest, like helium balloons tethered to a string, will follow. Although the dynamic software is not intended to replace the actual campus visit, Ms. Dudley said, the virtual tour is a good starting point for prospective students.
"What I hope is that it gives people a good sense of our personality and the creative aspect of our campus," Ms. Dudley said. "It's always great to have something new and innovative and different from your peers because it sets you apart, but what's more important is that it's representative of the true experience at Potsdam."
The tour was designed by the college's public affairs team and was developed with the help of the admissions office and the Maryland-based IDFive design firm. According to Ms. Dudley, it is still a work in progress: the college hopes to see the tour's content double within the next year.
The SUNY Potsdam tour:
Filed under news by on Jun 27th, 2011. Comment.
