Virtual tour
One of the first users of a virtual tour was Queen Elizabeth II, when she officially opened the visitor center in June 1994.
Virtual tours are used extensively for universities, sport venues, real estate and hospitality industries, among other things.
A study done by the PEW Research Group showed that more than 5 million Americans watched virtual tours every day in 2004.
Full service virtual tours are usually created by a professional photographer who will visit the property being sold, take several photos, and run them through stitching software.
3D virtual tour technology has been increasingly used in the documentation and preservation of historic properties that are at risk of being razed or undergoing restricted public access.
These tours are typically offered by hotels in an effort to increase booking revenue by providing online viewers with an immersive view of the property and its amenities.
Virtual walk videos are documentary motion pictures shot as the camera continuously moves forward through an urban or natural area.
The effect is to allow viewers to experience the sights they would see and the sounds they would hear were they actually traveling along a particular route at the same pace as the camera.
The advantage of the conventional travel video is that one or more narrators or on-screen guides can provide insights into the geographical, historical, political, military, cultural, geological, or architectural aspects of the area.
Virtual walks appeal to those who want to experience the sights and sounds of particular places in the country or the world, but who may not have the time or the financial or physical resources to actually travel there.
They also appeal to treadmill or elliptical trainer users, for whom walking or running while watching these videos enhances the reality of the experience (and, at a minimum, reduce the boredom of the exercise).
These include the opening sequences of Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil and Robert Altman's The Player, the famous tracking shot through the Copacabana in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, Alexander Sokurov's Russian Ark (which consists of a single 96-minute Steadicam take), and, more recently Alfonso Cuarón's long tracking shots in Gravity, and almost the entire narrative structure of Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárrito's Birdman.
Virtual tours can be especially useful for universities and real-estate operators who want to attract students, tenants, and buyers, while eliminating the cost of travel to numerous locations.
