Some QTVR research.

QTVR is actually and abbreviation of QuickTime Virtual Reality. It is an image format supported by QuickTime that allows creation of Panoramic views (it puts Panoramic images into a single file) which can also be interactive. It also has a variety of uses such as online virtual tours and walk around views.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/technologies/qtvr/

This links to the Apple website and gives you an extremely detailed explanation of QTVR and what the format is capable of.

Some examples of QTVRs:

http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen3/f6_mars.html

http://www.vrmag.org/projects/GRAND_CANYON_COLORADO_RIVER/FULLSCREEN/havasu3_high.html

This site was simply found by entering QTVR into Google and seems to offer the best examples I could find (in full-screen also).

The link above will take you to a full screen QTVR of planet 'Mars' and is extremely impressive. The way the image flows round is perfect and at the same time very interesting. The second link shows a grand canyon and is also made up of extremely impressive images, which of course gives you a 360 degree view.

These two examples show how QTVR can be used effectively and can educate people at the same time, showing people different parts of the world in one whole image which results in a greater understanding and view of a particular area.

Research into Panoramic images.

Panorama is a term used for a set of images that are made into one continuous, flowing picture that represents a scene of some sort (this could be anything from landscapes, cityscapes or the interior of buildings).

Here are a some examples of Panoramic views:

(Click image for larger version)

The example above has no obvious errors - blending issues or visible lines - however, it is quite difficult to to see if these problems are in the image (somewhere) due to the low resolution.

As an image, I believe it is quite a pleasant and atmospheric one - mainly due to various things such as the time the picture was taken which was of course in the evening (sometime near Christmas) and the lights from the houses reflect into the river that opens out at the end of the picture. It also helps that the town in which this picture was taken seems like a nice and quiet place which allows for a perfect setup.

However, if I were to take the images which make up this one Panoramic image and place them in Photoshop, I could see myself having difficulty putting the images together in order to get the river and trees perfectly aligned next to each other without any gleaming mistakes.


(Click image for larger version)

This is an example I picked out purely because there are some very clear mistakes that can actually be seen even when the image is at this size. The most obvious mistake is located at the bottom right of the picture where you see a wooden banister and because one part has not been aligned correctly, the problem goes straight up and is again visible on the orange hut.

This image, as you can see, was taken on the inside of a dome and is somewhat dull. Personally, I think the picture is lacking in colour and variety and isn't very atmospheric (unlike the one above). Of course this is just my opinion but I don't think it helps that whoever edited it made such a glaring mistake when putting the images together.

Finally, here are a couple of links to Panoramic images done by the BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/360/trinity_college_court.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/360/colchester_zoo.shtml

It is also possible to use the mouse to move around the images.

These are also good examples of QTVRs (which brings me to my next topic).