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Guide Real Estate Virtual Reality WP VR

How to Create Apartment Virtual Tour In WordPress To Rent & Sell Faster [2024]

Even though regular promotions using apartment photos and videos are still there, the way virtual tours can represent an interactive model of your apartments, traditional still images can’t.

And it’s obvious!

Virtual tours show off your apartment features without having an in-person visit.

It saves you wasted hours, cost, and hassle that you go through while showing your low potential home buyers an in-person visit.

So, whether you’re a real estate agent, realtor, property investor, or marketing manager, this guide is for you!

In this guide, I will give you a good insight into increasing conversion and a proper step-by-step guide to creating an apartment virtual tour (and no, it is not just a video tour).

Tauchen wir also ein.

Do You Really Need to Use Virtual Apartment Tours for Your Real Estate Business?

The answer is Yes. You need to use a virtual apartment tour.

92% of the interested buyers prefer to research on the internet first, then decide to reach out to an agent.

There are just too many competitors out there and buyers won’t think twice to move to another site if they don’t find your website appealing.

Besides, basic images and videos of properties have already become so common nowadays that people no longer find them amusing.

What Is a Virtual Apartment Tour?

Just imagine,

after all the hard work and investment you have put into building and developing your website,

your prospects are leaving your site without giving you a real chance.

Pretty frustrating, right?

So what can you do differently?

The best option now is to make an instant impression. And the most unique way to do so now is to use a virtual tour.

Instead of going to a place, a virtual tour can bring that place to you.

And people love this experience.

The longer you can keep your prospects hooked, the higher the chance they will consider reaching out to you for a deal.

So, having virtual tours is definitely the go-to solution for you.

You will find several such tools which include WPVR, Matterport, Kuula, Klapty, and many more.

The easiest of them are WPVR (for WordPress), and Klapty (though a bit expensive)

Before we look into how you can create one, let us learn what exactly a virtual apartment tour is and observe a few examples to understand why you need VR apartments on your website.

An Ideal Apartment Virtual Tour

Here is an example of a typical 360-degree apartment virtual tour:

As you can see, you have full control to view in all directions, move from one room to another easily, check out the information given inside hotspots, & use the control buttons for easier navigation.

This is an ingenious way to make your prospects get hooked right on the spot. In this guide, I will show you how you can create a virtual apartment tour on a WordPress site using WPVR.

Create an Apartment Virtual Tour in Minutes(Not Hours)

How to Do A Virtual Apartment Tour

By creating a complete virtual tour your visitors can get an overall idea of how your offered apartment looks in real life.

Simply upload a 360 panorama image, and the plugin will help you transform it into a realistic virtual tour. ( And you don’t have to wait too long for it)

So, Get rid of describing your apartment features again and again over the phone and in messages.

Simply for the steps below and you can create an apartment virtual tour in minutes.

Step 1 – Install and Activate The Virtual Tour Builder Plugin

  • Go to your WordPress dashboard and click on the Plugins tab.
  • Click on Add New
  • On the search bar, insert WPVR and choose to Install and then Activate WPVR.

Install and activate it on your site, and Activate the License Key.

Now you’ll have all the premium features to create a robust virtual tour of your apartments.

If you need any help, follow this short guide to set up WPVR on your website.

Step 2 – Create A Basic Virtual Apartment Tour Really Quick

Now, we’ll create a simple virtual apartment tour in under 5 minutes.

From your WordPress Dashboard,

  • Hover on WP VR, and click on the Add New Tour option.
Create New Virtual Apartment Tour

Now, you’re in the tour settings tab.

  • Set a Title for your virtual tour.
  • Make sure that the Tour Autoload option is enabled.
    • This will automatically load your virtual apartment tour.
  • Ensure that the Basic Controls option is enabled.
    • This will enable the Zoom in, Zoom Out, and Fullscreen control buttons in your apartment virtual tour.
Create New Apartment Virtual Tour
  • Click on the Scenes section.
  • Set a unique Scene ID (Without any special characters and spaces).
  • Click on the Upload button under the Scene Upload field, and choose the first panorama image of your apartment that want to use.
Upload Scene - VR Apartment Tour
  • Scroll down and click on the Preview button.
Preview 3D Virtual Apartment Tour
  • You’ll see a live preview of the tour in the Tour Preview section. Here, you can move around to see the basic tour and use basic controls.
Preview of Modern Apartment Virtual Tour

Das war's.

As you can see, it was really easy to create a basic virtual tour.

Let’s move on to the next step.

Step 3 – Apply Useful Options To Your Scene

Now, we’ll use the advanced options of WPVR in the scene you’ve just created, to give your viewers better control of the apartment virtual tour.

Let’s keep editing the tour:

  • On the Titel field, set a suitable name for this panorama.
    • For example, if the image is of the kitchen, set it as ‘Kitchen’ or ‘Kitchen – 90 SQF’.

Tip: Use this field to give your viewers a heads up on where they are in the apartment.

  • The Author field can take your viewer to any link. You can use this field as you desire.
    • You can use terms like ‘Learn more about this Kitchen’ or ‘Made By Rex Properties’.
  • In the Author URL, you can set any URL of your company website or page.
Set Title and Details to Luxury Apartment Virtual Tour
  • Remember, this URL will be activated when a viewer clicks on the Author title. So, make it relevant to that field’s text.
  • Scroll down and click on the Preview button again.

You’ll see the Title, Author, and Author URL fields working now.

3D Virtual Tour Title and Info in Preview
  • Now, scroll down and turn on the Customize Scene Zoom option.

You’ll get 3 new options that will allow you to set any zoom settings you want.

Zoom Settings - 360 Degree Apartments Tour

The Zoom values range from 50 to 120.50 is the most zoomed in, and 120 is the most zoomed out.

Default Zoom will be applied every time your viewers load this scene.

The Max Zoom and Min values will define how much your viewer can zoom in or zoom out in the tour.

Apply any zoom setting that you prefer. It’s up to you.

Now, if you preview and look at the live preview, you’ll see that all your advanced scene settings have been applied.

You can apply some other options as well:

1. Default Scene Face

Set a point in the panorama image, which you want it to load from.

2. Vertical and Horizontal Angle of View

When you’re using partial panoramas or panoramas taken with your mobile phone, the images are not full 360 degrees. You can use it to adjust those images.

3. Limit Vertical and Horizontal Scene Grab

For partial or mobile panoramas, you can set a custom value within which you want your viewers to explore.

Now, keep adding more panorama images by adding more scenes in this tour. You can use an unlimited number of images until you’ve covered every corner of your apartment.

Apply different settings to each individual Scene or the same settings for all the Scenes. Whichever you prefer.

Now, let’s enable the advanced features and make turn it into a professional virtual apartment tour.

Follow the next step.

Step 4 – Use Advanced Features – To Turn It Into A Professional Virtual Tour

First, click on the Publish button to save your progress.

Now, under the General section, click on the Advanced Controls tab.

  • Turn on these 3 options:
    • Keyboard Zoom Control, Mouse Drag Control, Mouse Zoom Control.

1. Keyboard Zoom Control: It allows your viewer to zoom in and out on the virtual tour using the plus(+) and minus(-) buttons of the keyboard.

2. Mouse Drag Control: It allows your viewer to drag and move the view of the panorama image.

3. Mouse Zoom Control: It lets your viewers zoom in and out on the panorama image using the mouse wheel.

In short, these 3 options enable smooth control on your virtual tour.

Smooth Control on Virtual Apartment Tour
  • Turn on the Gyroscope Control option.
    • When viewing from a mobile device, the Gyroscope will respond to the movement of the device. It gives great realistic control of the virtual tour to your viewers.
  • To make it even better, enable Auto Gyroscope Support.

It will turn on the Gyroscope support on smartphones by default.

Gyroscope Support - Virtual Tour Mobile Device
  • Turn on the Compass feature. It will display a live compass inside the virtual tour and help the viewers understand which directions they’re looking at.
Compass on Virtual Apartment Tour
  • Turn on the Scene Gallery option.
    • When you have multiple panorama images, it will show a slider gallery where your clients can see a preview of every panorama image in your apartment. They can also choose to visit a specific scene directly from the gallery.
  • Turn on the Scene Title on Scene Gallery option – to make your clients understand which part of the apartment the scene will take them.
360 Degree Panorama Gallery

Now, how about adding some interesting features to your apartment virtual tour?

Let’s add them right away.

  • Set Background music to your virtual tour using the Tour Background Music option.
    • Let your clients experience soothing audio the entire time they’re on your tour.

  • Set an explainer video using the Enable Explainer Video option.
    • Definitely, you want to give your clients more information about the apartment you’re showing them.
    • You can record a video explaining details of the apartment and set it here.
      Whenever your clients want to explore more, they can click it and learn about the apartment directly from you.

Background Audio on 3D Apartment Virtual Tour

Now, it’s time for your own branding.

Tell them who created this virtual tour by showing your logo and description.

Set your company logo and a description using the Add Company Information option.

 Your Logo and Information - Virtual Tour

Step 5 – Set Control Buttons – Easy Navigation for Your Client

To make the tour easier to navigate, you can turn on the control buttons.

These are the controls you can turn on:

  • Move Up.
  • Move Down.
  • Move Left.
  • Move Right.
  • Zoom In.
  • Zoom Out.
  • Full Screen.
  • Gyroscope.
  • Home Button.
Control Buttons on Apartment Virtual Tour

On top of that, you can set a different icon and color for each of these buttons.

Step 6 – Use Hotspots – Connect Panorama Images & Show Additional Info

Once you’ve set up one panorama image, you can now upload more and connect them.

Remember to keep the sequence between your images.

For example, if your tour starts from the entrance of your apartment, the next one should lead to the living room or the bedroom that is right beside the living room.

And if your viewer is leaving that bedroom, it should take them back to the living room.

The sequence of the images must reassablence the apartment in real life.

You have to use the Scene-type hotspots to connect the scenes.

Here is a small guide to connecting panorama images in your virtual apartment tour.

On top of that, you can use the Info-type hotspots to show in-depth details about the apartment.

The content you can set in the hotspots:

  • Images.
  • Texts.
  • Videos (YouTube, Vimeo, & Self-hosted).
  • GIFs.
  • URLs (Open on a new tab or the same tab).
  • Buttons.
  • Combination of everything above.
Hotspot To Show Information - Virtual Tour

You can set these to both on-hover and on-click actions of the hotspots.

To add more content and customize the hotspots, follow this guide.

Bonus Tips To Make A Luxury Apartment Virtual Tour Stand Out From Your Competitors

If you’ve made it this far in this guide, then great job!

In this section, I have something for you that’ll pay off your patience.

Suppose you’ve followed all the steps in this guide to make the perfect apartment virtual tour.

Now, all you need to do is make the viewer contact you and start the process of conversion.

Here’s how,

Inside every panorama scene of your tour set a hotspot that will contain a contact form or email submission form.

You can go one step further by adding a different contact form in every scene.

Beispiel:

  • In the Kitchen scene, invite them to drop their email – to learn more about the water supply & gas stove setup options.
  • In the Entrance or outdoor scenes, ask them to give you their contact – to learn about the lawn diameters and neighboring community rules.

The easiest way to generate more leads would be to keep the form as minimal as possible. Just asking them to type in their name, email address, and the best time to call back would be great.

But, you can also add a couple of questions to qualify them for your case such as their budget, expected time to rent, etc.

And this, you can easily set up using WPVR.

The Benefits of Using this Latest Trend: Convert Prospects Into Potential Buyers

Today there are several creative ways to handle prospects that help to boost conversion.

And one of the proven ways now is to use virtual tours on your website.

Webpages with virtual tours receive 5-10 times longer views.

Here’s how it works.

  1. Get prospects to visit your website.
  2. Hook them with engaging apartment virtual tours they can’t ignore.
  3. Give them a glimpse of exactly what they will get in real life.
  4. Get them interested and pre-qualified while on the tour.
  5. Make the prospects book a time for you to call back.

Advantages of Using Virtual Tour:

  • The user will not have to worry about traveling to get a live view of the apartment.
  • An apartment virtual tour with navigation control means prospects are not bound to a fixed view. They can view and move around however they want. This will gain more trust.
  • People will already get to make a temporary decision on the apartment of their choice.
  • You can include more details on the apartment within the tour, which you would normally explain via phone.
  • And most importantly, you can have the buyers fill out a form to get a call back right on the virtual apartment tour.

You can create an engaging apartment virtual tour without any complications using the right tool. And we mentioned and demonstrated WPVR here. You can easily go with it.

Schlussfolgerung 

As you can see, a virtual tour is the next best thing to a live visit. And it is also a key option to stand out among your competitors.

Plus, as you saw, creating apartment virtual tours is relatively easy and quite affordable. So it’s high time you, too should, start using virtual tours to sell or rent more apartments easily.

Keep your prospects hooked and convert them into buyers with the latest trend that works.

If you own a WordPress site, then go ahead and start using WPVR and start closing more deals.

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Guide Virtual Reality WP VR

5 Types Of Virtual Reality – Get The Perfect VR Solution [2025]

Technology today is moving fast.

Zu den neuesten Innovationen gehören maschinelles Lernen, künstliche Intelligenz, virtuelle Realität, Blockchain, das Internet der Dinge und vieles mehr.

Among these breakthroughs, Virtual Reality is reshaping how we interact with the digital world, bridging the gap between imagination and reality.

Currently, around 171 million people use VR globally in some form.

Today I will discuss 5 most popular types of virtual reality that are really out of the box.

Fangen wir an.

Was ist Virtuelle Realität?

Virtual Reality refers to creating a realistic experience that does not exist in reality.

Es handelt sich um ein virtuelles Erlebnis, das Sie beobachten, anhören und mit dem Sie interagieren können, das Sie aber nicht anfassen können.

Was ist virtuelle Realität?

Sounding complex?

Let me explain it a bit deeper.

Bei einem virtuellen Rundgang aus der Ferne haben Sie zum Beispiel das Gefühl, den Ort tatsächlich zu besichtigen.

However, in reality, you are sitting at your home and taking an amazing virtual tour through your computer, while still getting to look around the place as if you are physically there.

Over the years, people have developed many forms of virtual reality that they are using for innovative purposes. Some popular virtual reality examples include virtual medical training, virtual skills practice, games, virtual tours of homes or hotels, and many more.

Branchen wie Immobilien, Hotels, Vergnügungsparks, Forschungseinrichtungen, Armeeangehörige, Automobilunternehmen, Maschinenentwicklungsunternehmen und viele andere Branchen haben begonnen, einige Formen der virtuellen Realität zu nutzen, um bessere Ergebnisse in ihren Geschäften und Zielen zu erzielen.

For example, Porche has introduced the types of VR experience,

that allow their users to take a ride in the latest car virtually, mainly to experience the car’s finesse, luxurious interior, the technology used, and customization visualization.

And you can too!

5 Different Types of Virtual Reality

To find the right type of virtual reality that matches your needs, You need to know the best ones among all the VR types.

Among tons of VR formats, pick one among these 5 innovative virtual reality types.

  • Nicht-immersive Virtual Reality.
  • Vollständig immersive virtuelle Realität.
  • Semi-Immersive virtuelle Realität.
  • Augmented Reality.
  • Kollaborative VR.

Now let’s learn in-depth one by one:

1. Nicht-immersive Virtuelle Realität

Non-immersive virtual reality is a virtual experience through a desktop. You can control characters or activities within the software.

You can also find a powerpack laptop for virtual machines and work on the go.

Since more and more people appreciate mobility, manufacturers create powerful systems in compact bodies.

Wenn Sie zum Beispiel Videospiele wie World of WarCraft spielen, können Sie Charaktere im Spiel steuern, die ihre eigenen Animationen und Attribute haben.

(Interestingly, over the years, several science conferences have been held within the World of Warcraft ‘world’. Utilizing the platform instead of a traditional web conferencing system while creating an innovative experience for members. This, of course, has its benefits compared to traditional means.)

Technically, you are dealing with a virtual world, but you are not the center of attention in the game.

All actions or features interact with the characters within.

Nicht-immersive VR

All basic forms of gaming devices, such as PlayStation, Xbox, Computer, other video game consoles, and even input devices such as mouse keyboards, etc, provide you with a non-immersive virtual reality experience.

The US Defence Force suggested that strategic games may help to develop the planning and strategic expertise of the US Army back in 2017. This has been put in effective use since the Summer of 2018.

2. Vollständig immersive virtuelle Realität

Contrary to non-immersive virtual reality, fully immersive virtual technology ensures that you have a realistic experience within the virtual world.

It’ll give you a sense of being present in that virtual world, and everything is happening to you for real.

This is an expensive form of virtual reality that involves helmets, gloves, and body connectors with sense detectors.

Diese sind mit einem leistungsstarken Computer verbunden. Ihre Bewegungen, Reaktionen und sogar ein Wimpernschlag werden erkannt und in die virtuelle Welt projiziert.

Sie werden das Gefühl haben, dass Sie sich in der virtuellen Welt befinden.

Ein Beispiel wäre ein virtueller Shooter-Spielbereich, in dem Sie in einem kleinen Raum mit der Ausrüstung ausgestattet werden und durch den Helm eine virtuelle Welt sehen, in der Sie anderen Schützen gegenüberstehen, die versuchen, Sie zu töten.

Du bewegst deine Arme und deinen Körper, um zu rennen, zu springen, zu kauern, zu schießen, zu werfen und vieles mehr im Spiel.

Ein neues Konzept der virtuellen medizinischen Ausbildung wird untersucht, um Neurochirurgen darin zu schulen, Katastrophen bei riskanten Gehirnoperationen zu vermeiden.

Another potential fully immersive virtual reality that’s becoming popular nowadays is transforming the education sector.

Viele weitere Konzepte dieser Art sind im Entstehen begriffen und werden hoffentlich dazu beitragen, unser Leben zu verbessern.

Fully immersive virtual reality is costly and not so widely created yet.

3. Semi-immersive Virtual Reality

A Semi immersive virtual reality is a mixture of non-immersive and fully immersive virtual reality.

This can be in the form of a 3D space or virtual environment where you can move about on your own, either through a computer screen or a VR box/headset.

Alle Aktivitäten innerhalb der virtuellen Welt konzentrieren sich also auf Sie.

Allerdings haben Sie außer Ihrer visuellen Erfahrung keine wirklichen körperlichen Bewegungen.

On a computer, you can use the mouse to move about the virtual space, and on mobile devices, you can touch and swipe to move about the place.

Semi-immersive VR

Die meisten halbimmersiven virtuellen Umgebungen unterstützen das Gyroskop, d. h. der virtuelle Raum wird auf Ihrem Telefon auf der vertikalen Achse fixiert, und Sie müssen Ihr Telefon buchstäblich in verschiedene Richtungen bewegen, um die virtuelle Umgebung in diesen Richtungen zu sehen.

Swipen funktioniert nicht.

Diejenigen, die mit VR-Boxen verbunden sind, sind interaktiver, da sie auch eine Form von Gyroskop sind, aber ohne dass Sie Ihre Hände benutzen.

When you wear a VR box/headset, you will only be able to see the virtual environment and not your real world, even from the corner of your eye. Thus creating a realistic experience.

Semi-immersive virtual reality is the most cost-effective and commonly used among all forms of virtual reality after non-immersive VR. It’s especially used for training and educational purposes.

It can be used to provide students with immersive, interactive educational experiences like exploration of historical events, and distant planets, and even scouting oceans from the classroom. Ultimately helping teachers to teach more engagingly and realistically rather than sticking to theoretical explanations only.

A virtual tour is the most popular semi immersive virtual reality that most businesses are embracing today.

Sie können sowohl geräte- als auch webbasiert sein. Insgesamt bieten sie eine interaktive virtuelle Erfahrung.

Es wird vor allem in Unternehmen wie Immobilien-Websites, Hotels, lokalen Bars oder Kneipen, Universitäten, Schulen und vielen anderen Unternehmen verwendet, die auf die Hervorhebung und Förderung ihrer Standorte angewiesen sind.

Types Of Virtual Reality - Create virtual tours with WPVR

4. Erweiterte Realität

Von Augmented Reality spricht man, wenn ein bestimmtes Objekt oder Gerät in der Realität vorhanden zu sein scheint, es aber in Wirklichkeit nicht ist.

Anstatt Sie in eine virtuelle Welt zu versetzen, wird eine virtuelle Einheit über ein beliebiges Gerät in die reale Welt gebracht.

For example, through your mobile screen, you can view your room and probably place a cartoon character in the corner. You will be able to see the character through your mobile screen and not in reality.

Sie wird meist von Unternehmen wie Möbellieferanten oder Dekorateuren verwendet.

Wer zum Beispiel einen Tisch kaufen möchte, kann ihn über das Display seines Telefons in seinem Zimmer aufstellen.

This will let him understand if this table is suitable and looks good in his room or if he has to choose another design.

Augmented reality often is argued to be a unique form of technology rather than VR. There are also a few technology consulting services that often assist in implementing augmented reality solutions effectively.

Aber seine Fähigkeit, Objekte virtuell zu platzieren, lässt es oft in die Kategorie der VR fallen.

5. Kollaborative VR

Es handelt sich um eine Form einer virtuellen Welt, in der verschiedene Personen von verschiedenen Orten innerhalb einer virtuellen Umgebung in Kontakt kommen können, normalerweise in Form von 3D oder projizierten Charakteren.

Types Of Virtual Reality - Collaborative VR

For example, Unity game development has also embraced the concept of virtual collaboration, much like the video game called PUBG (Players Unknown Battle-Ground), where tons of players come into existence as individual virtual characters that they can control. Similarly, the integration of hybrid casual elements in virtual reality games is becoming increasingly popular, offering a unique blend of simplicity and engagement.

Much like the transformative impact of igaming development in its sector, VR technologies are paving the way for innovative experiences across various domains.

Hier können sie über Mikrofone, Headsets und Chats miteinander kommunizieren.

Recently people are getting used to virtual meeting rooms to conduct business meetings remotely, or for conducting virtual debate competitions.

For those interested in enhancing their virtual collaboration, learning how to conduct virtual meetings effectively is crucial, offering a blend of convenience and efficiency in today’s digital landscape. Exploring AR VR development services can significantly enhance these virtual experiences, the main goal of this form of VR is to create collaboration between people. As virtual reality continues to improve over time, the advancement of translation for VR will pave the way for immersive multilingual experiences.

The Perfect Tool to Make Virtual Tour

Now think and choose what type of virtual reality you want to experience. I know what you are thinking.

How can you make a virtual tour right?

Making a virtual tour can sound too complex. But by using WPVR, you can do it very easily with just 3 steps!

5 Types Of Virtual Reality – Get The Perfect VR Solution [2025] 1

First, take 360° panorama images, and then :

  1. Connect these Panorama Scenes
  2. Use Scene-type Hotspots so all the 360-degree images join together
  3. Show information in the virtual tours using info hotspots and hit publish!

And that’s it, you’ve created your desired virtual tour!

Features of WPVR

And you can share your virtual tour on social media very easily.

Using WPVR you can easily share your 360-degree virtual tours on your desired Social Media Platforms like

  • Facebook,
  • LinkedIn,
  • Twitter,
  • Email, and
  • Reddit.

not just that you can generate a QR Code automatically for your virtual tour and send it anywhere, and you too can view or show your virtual tour without any web page!

You also don’t have to worry about how to do plugin installation and activation process, As we have created 82 pieces of documentation from installation to all the minor Major setting step by step.

Go through WPVR Documentation.

If you want to learn by watching YouTube videos, We have a complete playlist on WPVR

You can also check out this article: Complete Guide To Create A Virtual Tour.

Schlussfolgerung

As you can see, these are the most popular types of VR available out there. With time, the quality of virtual reality is getting better and better.

More and more businesses are implementing different forms of virtual reality, mostly virtual tours, and virtual meeting rooms, to improve their engagement with their prospects and business module.

Falls Sie sich noch nicht damit befasst haben, schlage ich vor, dass Sie darüber nachdenken, die virtuelle Realität zu nutzen, um mit dieser fortschrittlichen Welt Schritt zu halten.

FAQs

1. What are the main types of virtual reality?


The main types include non-immersive, semi-immersive, fully immersive, augmented reality (AR), and collaborative VR.

2. What is the difference between AR and VR?


AR overlays digital elements in the real world, while VR creates a fully immersive, computer-generated environment.

3. How is semi-immersive VR used?


Semi-immersive VR is often used in training simulations, like flight or medical training, to blend digital and physical interaction.

4. What industries benefit from collaborative VR?


Collaborative VR enhances industries like education, architecture, and business by enabling virtual teamwork and shared spaces.

5. Why is fully immersive VR significant?


Fully immersive VR offers complete engagement with a virtual environment, ideal for gaming, therapy, and advanced simulations.

Kategorien
Virtuelle Realität

12 Best Virtual Reality Books To Dive Into New Technology [2025]

Virtual reality isn’t just for gamers or tech geeks anymore—it’s changing how industries work, play, and even shop.

If you’re serious about staying ahead, understanding VR is a must.

And let’s be honest- reading expert books is one of the best ways to get a real grasp on this technology.

But the problem is there are a ton of VR books out there, and not all of them are worth your time. You need books that give you practical, actionable insights—not just fluff.

That’s where this article comes in. I’ve rounded up the top 12 virtual reality books you should be reading this year. These books will help you understand VR’s past, present, and future—and give you real tools to bring it all into your world.

So, let’s check out the 12 VR books that are worth your time in 2025.

Was ist Virtuelle Realität?

Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that replicates an environment to make you feel immersed. Using VR headsets and gear, you enter a completely digital world where you can interact with 3D objects and move around.

This creates an immersive sensation like you’re inside a video game or movie. VR allows you to escape reality and explore impossible worlds.

How Can VR Help In Various Industries?

Many people think virtual reality is just for gaming but in reality, it’s revolutionizing various industries in ways you might not have imagined.

Here’s how:

  • Healthcare: Doctors use VR for complex surgery simulations, enhancing their skills without any risk to patients.
  • Education: VR brings subjects to life, allowing students to explore ancient civilizations or distant galaxies up close.
  • Real Estate: Imagine touring a house halfway across the world, right from your living room. VR makes this possible in real estate.
  • Retail: Try on clothes or test products virtually, giving you a new way to shop from home.
  • Manufacturing: VR assists in designing and testing products, reducing the time and cost of development.
  • Tourism: Travel to exotic destinations without leaving your home, thanks to VR’s immersive experiences.

As technology continues to advance, VR contributes to a well-rounded educational experience and tools that could be the best essay helper can also support students in research by gathering information on various educational topics suitable for VR experiences.

The Importance of Reading Virtual Reality Books

While experiencing VR is thrilling, understanding it deeply is equally important. Reading books unlocks a wealth of VR knowledge you can’t find elsewhere. By learning from experts, you gain a deeper understanding of VR’s past, present and future.

Here are some key benefits of reading virtual reality books:

  • Comprehensive Understanding: Books provide a thorough insight into VR technology, from its history to its future potential.
  • Practical Applications: They explore real-world applications of VR, showing you how it’s transforming industries.
  • Stay Updated: The VR world is fast-evolving. VR books keep you updated with the latest trends and advancements.
  • Deep Dives: Unlike short articles, books delve into topics deeply, offering nuanced perspectives on VR.
  • Inspiration for Innovation: Reading about VR can spark new ideas and inspire you to think creatively about using VR in your field.

12 Best Virtual Reality Books You Must Read In 2024

Exploring virtual reality is more than just experiencing new worlds; it’s about understanding the technology that makes it possible.

Here are twelve standout VR books that will deepen your knowledge of virtual reality world.

1. The History of the Future by Blake J. Harris

“The History of the Future” by Blake J. Harris is a deep dive into the story of Oculus and the virtual reality revolution. This virtual reality book is more than a timeline of events; it’s a narrative that brings to life the challenges and triumphs in the development of VR.

It’s perfect for you if you’re interested in the backstory of VR technology and the hurdles faced by its early innovators.

The History of the Future by Blake J. Harris - one of the great books about virtual reality
Beschriftung (optional)

Get this book from here.

2. Experience on Demand by Jeremy Bailenson

In “Experience on Demand,” Jeremy Bailenson explores the practical uses of VR beyond entertainment. This virtual reality book is ideal for you if you’re curious about VR’s applications in education, empathy building, and healthcare.

It offers a detailed look at how VR can impact various aspects of our lives, making it a valuable read for both VR enthusiasts and professionals.

Experience on Demand by Jeremy Bailenson - a great book about vr
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3. Dawn of the New Everything by Jaron Lanier

“Dawn of the New Everything” by Jaron Lanier is a personal and profound look at how virtual reality affects us. Lanier, a VR pioneer, shares his insights and experiences, making this virtual reality book a fascinating read for you if you’re interested in the human side of VR.

It’s not just about the technology; it’s about how VR changes our perception and experience of the world. You can consider this as one of the best books on virtual reality

Dawn of the New Everything by Jaron Lanier -  a famous virtual reality book
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4. Mastering Virtual Reality Real Estate by Ahmed Zaki

In “Mastering Virtual Reality Real Estate,” Ahmed Zaki offers a practical guide to integrating VR into the real estate industry. This virtual reality book is a must-read for you if you’re in real estate and looking to leverage VR for property showcases and sales.

It provides practical tips and strategies, making the concept of virtual property tours a reality for your business.

Mastering Virtual Reality Real Estate by Ahmed Zaki - one of the famous virtual reality books
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5. Virtual Tour Photography for Real Estate by Nathan Cool

“Virtual Tour Photography for Real Estate” by Nathan Cool is your go-to guide for mastering virtual tours in the real estate market. This book about VR is tailored for you if you’re looking to enhance your real estate listings with immersive virtual tours.

Nathan Cool breaks down the process into easy-to-follow steps, ensuring you can create engaging and effective virtual tours that attract buyers.

Virtual Tour Photography for Real Estate by Nathan Cool - a must read book about vr
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6. The Metaverse: Prepare Now For the Next Big Thing! by Terry Winters

In “The Metaverse: Prepare Now For the Next Big Thing!” Terry Winters provides a forward-looking exploration of the Metaverse. This book about VR is essential for you if you’re curious about the future of digital interaction and the role of VR in it.

Terry Winters guides you through what the Metaverse is, its potential impact, and how you can be part of this exciting new virtual frontier.

The Metaverse: Prepare Now For the Next Big Thing! by Terry Winters
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7. Marketing New Realities by Cathy Hackl and Samantha G. Wolfe

“Marketing New Realities” by Cathy Hackl and Samantha G. Wolfe is a must-read if you’re looking to integrate VR into your marketing strategy. This book about books about VR offers a clear and concise guide on how virtual reality and augmented reality can transform marketing and brand communication.

It’s packed with practical advice and real-world examples, making it a valuable resource for marketers who want to stay ahead in the digital landscape.

Marketing New Realities by Cathy Hackl and Samantha G. Wolfe
Beschriftung (optional)

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8. Envisioning Virtual Reality by David Kaser and Kara Grijalva

“Envisioning Virtual Reality” by David Kaser and Kara Grijalva is a guide for educators and trainers. This book about VR is ideal for you if you’re interested in how VR can be used in educational settings.

It provides insights into implementing VR in classrooms and training programs, offering innovative ways to engage learners and enhance the educational experience.

Envisioning Virtual Reality by David Kaser and Kara Grijalva
Beschriftung (optional)

Get this book from here.

9. Virtual Training by Jeb Blount

“Virtual Training” by Jeb Blount is a comprehensive guide for anyone looking to master the art of virtual training and workshops. This virtual reality book is perfect for you if you’re a trainer or educator transitioning to online platforms.

Jeb Blount offers practical tips on engaging your audience, delivering impactful training sessions, and leveraging technology to enhance learning experiences in a virtual setting.

Virtual Training by Jeb Blount
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10. The VR Book by Jason Jerald

“The VR Book” by Jason Jerald is a deep dive into the human-centered design of virtual reality. If you’re interested in the intersection of VR technology and user experience, this book about VR is for you. It covers the fundamentals of VR design, focusing on creating user-friendly and immersive VR experiences.

Jason Jerald’s insights are invaluable for developers, designers, and anyone passionate about crafting user-centric VR environments.

The VR Book by Jason Jerald
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11. Defying Reality by David M. Ewalt

“Defying Reality” by David M. Ewalt is an engaging exploration of the virtual reality landscape. This virtual reality book is a great fit for you if you’re looking to understand the evolution of VR, its current state, and its future potential.

David M. Ewalt combines storytelling with insightful analysis, making complex VR concepts accessible and enjoyable for everyone, from enthusiasts to professionals in the field.

Defying Reality by David M. Ewalt
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12. Investing in the Metaverse by Gary Covella

“Investing in the Metaverse” by Gary Covella is a forward-thinking guide for anyone interested in the financial opportunities within the virtual world. If you’re curious about how to invest in virtual real estate and digital assets, this book about VR is tailored for you.

Gary Covella provides practical advice and strategies, making the concept of investing in the Metaverse accessible and actionable.

Investing in the Metaverse by Gary Covella
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So, if you’re in search of books about virtual reality, this blog will help you out.

Now, let’s learn about some useful tools that can be used for VR technology and marketing.

Useful VR Tools For Business And Technology Marketing

Exploring virtual reality (VR) tools can transform how you connect with your audience in business and technology marketing. These tools bring an immersive edge to your marketing strategies. Here are some key VR tools that can elevate your business’s engagement and interaction:

  1. WPVR: This is a go-to for WordPress users. WPVR lets you create virtual tours easily, making it perfect for showcasing real estate, products, or any space you want to highlight in an immersive manner.
  2. Unity: Beyond its fame in game development, Unity is a robust platform for crafting interactive 3D and VR experiences. It’s a great choice if you’re aiming to create engaging and interactive content for your audience.
  3. Unreal Engine: Known for its stunning graphics, Unreal Engine is ideal for crafting visually impressive VR experiences. It’s a solid option for businesses aiming to create high-impact, visually captivating marketing content.
  4. Google VR for Everyone: Google’s VR tools, including Cardboard and Daydream, offer accessible VR solutions. They are excellent for businesses taking their first steps into VR, providing a simple and cost-effective approach to creating VR experiences.
  5. Vuforia: Vuforia is great for both AR and VR applications, especially for creating interactive product demonstrations or educational content that truly engages.
  6. A-Frame: If you’re interested in integrating VR into your website without complex software, A-Frame is a web framework that allows you to build VR experiences compatible with most web browsers.

Einpacken

As you step into the evolving world of virtual reality, these vr books are your essential guides. They’re not just about understanding VR technology; they’re about preparing you for a future where virtual reality plays a significant role.

Whether you’re a professional looking to integrate VR into your business, a developer, or simply a VR enthusiast, these readings will equip you with the knowledge and insights you need.

Embracing these virtual reality books means staying ahead in the game, understanding the nuances of VR, and being ready to apply this knowledge in practical, innovative ways.

So, take the time to explore these titles. They’re more than just books; they’re your roadmap to navigating and excelling in the world of virtual reality.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is Virtual Reality Mainly Used For?

Virtual reality is mainly used for creating immersive experiences. It’s widely adopted in gaming, education, training simulations, and real estate tours. VR allows you to explore and interact with a digital environment as if you were actually there.

2. Can Virtual Reality Help in Education?

Yes, virtual reality can significantly enhance education. It provides interactive, immersive learning experiences, making complex subjects more accessible and engaging. VR can take students on virtual field trips or help them understand intricate scientific concepts through visualization.

3. Is Virtual Reality Beneficial for Training?

Absolutely. Virtual reality offers a safe, controlled environment for training, especially in fields like healthcare, military, and aviation. It allows for realistic simulations without the risks associated with real-life training.

4. How Does Virtual Reality Impact Real Estate?

In real estate, virtual reality revolutionizes how properties are showcased. Potential buyers can take virtual tours of properties from anywhere in the world, making the viewing process more convenient and efficient.

5. What Future Developments Can We Expect in VR?

The future of VR includes more realistic and immersive experiences, wider adoption in various sectors, and advancements in VR hardware. Expect VR to become more accessible and integrated into everyday activities, from social interactions to professional tasks.

Kategorien
Guide Real Estate Virtual Reality WP VR

How to Use Real Estate Floor Plans in Virtual Tours [2024]

When selling houses, you will see that one of the major reasons your buyers may reject a house is due to the way the property was planned or built.

For many clients, it’s important that they are able to find a home that will resemble their desired house plan.

As a result, if you are using virtual tours to showcase properties, you should consider including real estate floor plans in the tours.

It will not only make a tour more interesting but also help eliminate any confusion about the architecture of the house. Plus, you will get a few additional benefits that will help you impress clients even more.

Today, you will learn how to add a floor map to your virtual tour to enhance the overall experience of your visitors.

In this article, you will learn,

  • The key benefits of using house plans with virtual tours,
  • how to embed a real estate floor plan into your property virtual tour,
  • examples of great floor plans with virtual tours.

Fangen wir an.

Benefits of Using Real Estate Floor Plans With Virtual Tours

Virtual floor plans nowadays will provide potential buyers with an immersive and interactive experience to explore properties and gain a deeper understanding of their layouts. And if you can combine your virtual tours with floor plans, it will take the experience to the next level.

Following are some of the key benefits of using real estate floor plans with virtual tours.

1. Clear Property Plan & Layout For Better Decision-Making

The main benefit of using real estate floor plans is to ensure buyers get a clear idea about the layout of the house.

Normally, when you have images or a video, you are only looking at the house from a certain angle and can’t really imagine how it may be in reality.

When it comes to a virtual tour, yes, you get a near-perfect idea about the scene you see. But again, you can’t accurately guess the directions and the layouts of how each scene is connected to the other in real life.

A floor plan solves this problem. While taking the tour, if a person can get a glance at the interactive floor plan and understand where he is in the house, it will make it much easier for buyers to decide if this is what they are looking for.

Clear Property Plan & Layout For Better Decision-Making

For example, a family considering a property can better visualize if the bedrooms are located close to each other or apart, the kitchen is conveniently situated, and there’s a logical separation between private and communal spaces.

Hence, it will help buyers make decisions more confidently. And you are less likely to get a deal rejected due to the layout of the house.

2. Maps Out The Important Spots In Your Virtual Tour

In the floor map, you may name the rooms and areas available in the tour. You may leave pointers to indicate the spots from where visitors will be observing the view.

You may also contrast color the areas that you want the visitors to visit, i.e., the specialty of the property.

This could be maybe the dining room, or maybe the swimming pool area, or even the balcony to get a soothing view outside. This approach will work really well for furnished homes or luxury homes.

How to Use Real Estate Floor Plans in Virtual Tours [2024] 2

So, basically, you may use this as another way to connect with potential buyers.

3. Makes Navigation Easier With Click To View Scene

Modern floor maps in virtual tours allow you to add hotspots on the map, which people can click to visit that scene directly.

Makes Navigation Easier With Click To View Scene

This helps to attract buyers who are more concerned about specific rooms in the house.

For example, many want to make sure they get a spacious kitchen before all else. Hence, you may allow them to visit the kitchen just by clicking on the map.

4. Avoid Misunderstandings With Room Dimensions & Directions

A virtual does create a very realistic environment for the buyer, but it still doesn’t answer a few important questions the buyers may have.

Add dimensions and directions of the house

For example, a buyer may wonder about the dimensions or measurements of the rooms.

That is something you can cover in the real estate floor plan. You may easily add the measurements of each side of the rooms/scenes on the map, thus removing such confusion.

The directions could be another piece of information that you can include on the floor plan.

5. Define the Authenticity Of Your Listings

The use of real estate floor plans in your virtual tours will act as a psychological trigger and help you gain authority.

Having The floor maps will create a sense of authenticity. People will believe that you are more trustworthy with the listings as you even have access to the floor plans.

This will make it easier for people to choose you over your competitors.

Pro Tip: You can collect the floor plan from the owner or have someone inspect the house and prepare one for you. Do not use fake floor plans. It will rather make you lose potential clients.

How To Embed Real Estate Floor Plans To Your Virtual Tours

The ability to add a real estate floor plan to your virtual tour will really depend on what tool you are using to create your virtual tours.

Some tools have this feature built-in, while for others, you may need to customize it into the tours or compromise and use a floor map as an image below the virtual tours on a web page.

We highly recommend you choose a virtual tour software that has an interactive floor plan feature that allows you to connect the map to the virtual tour via hotspots and indicates the location of the currently viewed scene on the map.

In WordPress, you will find WPVR, which allows you to create and embed high-quality virtual tours on your website, along with interactive floor plans.

Here’s how you can craft a virtual tour along with a real estate floor plan using WPVR.

1. Create A Virtual Tour Using WPVR

First, you need to upload 360 panoramic images, which WPVR will convert into a virtual environment.

Next, connect the scenes to each other to make it into a complete tour of the house.

And finally, customize the tour with more details such as company information, tooltips, additional details on the house, and booking forms.

~ Here’s a simple guide to creating a Real Estate Virtual Tour To Increase Property Sales ~

2. Enable & Upload The Real Estate Floor Plan

Once you have the tour ready, it’s time to add the virtual tour house plans.

First, go to WPVR settings and enable the floor plan feature.

Enable floor plan

Next, upload the real estate floor map.

Upload a floor plan image

Then, set up hotspots and connect them to the associated scenes in the tour.

Add hotspots and Pointers in Floor plans

Here’s a video guide in case you need more help,

3. Embed Your Virtual Tour On The Website

Now that you have your floor plan virtual tour ready, you may easily embed it on any page on your website using shortcodes or widgets in one of the supported page builders.

For example, if you use Elementor, you may use the WPVR widget from Elementor to place the tour on a page, which you may link on your listing page for the associated house for sale.

~Here’s how you can easily embed a WPVR virtual tour anywhere on your WordPress site.

Examples Of Floor Plans With Virtual Tours

1. Interactive Floor Plan by WPVR

Following is an example of a virtual tour with a real estate floor plan that was created using WPVR. Go through the tour and explore how amazing this virtual tour is and how engaging this interactive floor map is.

2. Property Map Showcase by Zillow

You’ve surely heard of Zillow. Here’s how they present the floor maps with virtual tours.

Zillow Virtual Floor Plan

3. Basic House Plans With Virtual Tours by Panoee

Panoee Floor Plan

4. 3D Floor Plan Virtual Tour by WayneHomes (created using Matterport)

Matterport Floor plan

This one is a bit unique (and expensive). It’s the dollhouse effect by Matterport, which is probably not something most realtors would go for unless it’s for a very expensive luxury house.

Schlussfolgerung

As you can see, you get so many benefits from using real estate floor plans along with your virtual tours, and it is super easy to embed.

So go ahead and start using virtual tours with floor plans and convince more potential buyers to consider making a purchase decision.


If you want to use a reliable virtual tour creator that is reliable, cost-effective, and has a high-quality interactive floor plan feature, then WPVR would be a great choice.

Try using WPVR today and start making virtual tours that are more optimized for converting clients.

** FAQs **

Can virtual floor plans really enhance my property listings?

  • Yes, integrating virtual floor plans can greatly enhance your property listings. It provides potential buyers with clear insights into the layout and structure of the house.

Will adding floor plans to my virtual tours require a lot of technical expertise?

  • Not at all, with user-friendly tools like WPVR, embedding floor plans into your virtual tours is simple, even for those without technical skills.

Are virtual floor plans compatible with different devices for easy viewing?

  • Yes, virtual floor plans are optimized for seamless viewing across various devices. It ensures accessibility and engagement for all potential buyers.

How can virtual floor plans help me stand out from other realtors?

  • By incorporating virtual floor plans into your listings, you demonstrate attention to detail and professionalism. It helps you to set yourself apart as a realtor who goes the extra mile to assist buyers.

Can virtual floor plans really make a difference in attracting potential buyers?

  • Indeed, real estate virtual floor plans provide buyers with a comprehensive understanding of the property layout. It increases their confidence and likelihood of making a purchase decision.
Kategorien
Guide Virtual Reality

Guide to Panoramic Photography – How To Shoot Panorama Photos Efficiently [2024]

“Content is King,” as stated by Bill Gates, is quite true today. Most businesses nowadays rely on online presence and digital marketing.

You will find so many unique ways businesses are trying to use content to stay ahead of the competition. And one such unique content is “Panorama.”

A panoramic image is a processed form of photography that gives you a wide and expansive view of a location. You can then convert it into a 360 virtual tour quite easily.

Virtual tours are right now one of the most interactive forms of content in the real estate, hotel, and travel industry to increase sales.

However, panoramic photography can be quite challenging. You have to consider the lighting, the right equipment, and the proper angle of view to capture a high-quality panorama.

In this guide, you will learn how to shoot panorama photos in the right way, with the best possible captures.

After reading this article, you will learn:

  • The equipment needed for panoramic photography.
  • Proper shooting techniques to capture panoramas.
  • Ways to optimize capturing 360 panoramic images.

And eventually, you will be able to capture high-quality panoramas that you can use to create the best virtual tours.

Fangen wir also an.

Step By Step Guide To Panoramic Photography

Taking panoramic images will need you to follow three main steps:

  1. Collect the required equipment for efficient panoramic photography.
  2. Use the right shooting techniques to capture images for the panorama.
  3. Stich the captured images into a 360 panoramic image.

Let us look at each of them one by one.

Step 1 – Collecting The Required Equipment For Efficient Panoramic Photography

The first step to capturing panoramic images is to choose the right equipment.

Following are the tools you need to collect before you can proceed to capture your panoramic images.

1. High-Resolution Camera With A Wide-angle Lens

If you want to capture a high-quality panoramic image, you will need to choose a high-resolution camera and a wide-angle/fish-eye lens for the 360 effects.

Ideally, a camera with at least 24 megapixels and a wide-angle lens with a focal length of 35mm or less will serve your purpose.

The idea is to combine the camera and the lens to help you capture the full grandeur of a scene (which is not possible with a traditional lens).

  • The camera’s high resolution will ensure all the details are captured to the last detail.
  • The fish-eye lens will create a concave effect to help capture a 360 view.

Tips On Using Your Camera & Lens Properly

  • Set your camera to manual mode.
  • Use a decent shutter speed – 1/10th or 1/20th is ideal during the day.
  • Set the aperture to about F11 and ISO to around 640 or more during the day.
  • Set manual white balance to 4000 Kelvin

**Remember, these settings are suggested based on ideal photogenic lighting conditions. You may have to toggle the white balance and ISO a bit to get the best output.

Best Cameras To Consider For Panoramic Photo Shooting
Best Wide-angle Lenses For Panoramic Photography

2. A Tripod For Stable Photography

You’ll need a stable tripod for panoramic photography to avoid noise and jitters caused by camera shakes.

Plus, you will be able to raise or tone down the height of the camera easily, to capture at just the right angle for the best panoramic view.

Tips On Using A Tripod Properly

  • Try to keep the tripod on an even surface.
  • Adjust the height and angle of the tripod for your desired composition.
  • Notice the bubble of the tripod. If it’s in the center, it means the tripod is standing straight.
Best Tripods for Panoramic Photography

3. Remote Shutter Release

The remote shutter release will allow you to trigger the camera without physically touching it. This will remove the possibility of camera shakes.

Best Remote Shutter Releases

3. Automated Pano Head/Nodal Head For Controlled Photoshoot

Since you need to cover every angle of a view, you must maintain a fixed rotation angle. An automated pano head will help you maintain that angle.

You may set the amount of angle you want the camera to rotate after every shot (and set a timer to define how soon the camera will rotate next).

This will help you capture all angles of a 360 view without any manual effort.

Best Automated Pano Heads for Panoramic Photography

5. Leveling Tools

In case your tripod doesn’t; have a leveling tool attached, you may buy one. They are useful to ensure your tripod is on level, i.e., standing straight against gravity.

There are mainly 2 types of leveling tools

  • Bubble levels
  • Electronic levels.

Bubble levels are the most common ones used.

Best Leveling Tools for Panoramic Photography

Step 2 – Use The Right Shooting Techniques For The Best Panoramic Photography

Once you have all your equipment ready, it’s time to capture panoramas.

1. Choosing the Right Spot

The first step in capturing a great panorama is finding the right spot.

You may want to take a panoramic image of your office interior. Or you may want to take an exclusive panorama just outside your resort to capture your resort and the environment around it.

The spot to place your camera and other equipment will vary. The spot you choose will determine the quality of your image, and using an AI image enhancer can further improve sharpness and clarity in every detail of the captured scene.

  • Interior photoshoot
    In the case of interior photography, the best location is always the center. However, you have to work on maintaining a constant light balance throughout. For example, if there are windows on one side, find a way to block the sunlight from coming through. You do not want half of your image to be bright and half of your image to be dark.
  • Exterior photography
    When taking external panoramas, you should find a wide-open view where the elements around are not too close, and you get a soothing view of what you want to capture. You may stand in the spot and crouch a bit to judge if the angle is right before placing your equipment there.

2. Set Up The Tripod And The Panohead

Once you have decided on the spot, place the tripod in the middle and adjust the bubble level to the center. Also, adjust the height of the tripod to the height you found suitable when observing the view prior.

Next, set the pano head and adjust the pano head to rotate to an angle of 60 degrees after every shot. This will help to capture 6 photos horizontally.

Best Practice: Avoid using the center column of the tripod as it may cause instability. Instead, use the tripod’s legs to adjust the camera’s height.

Once these are set up, attach the camera to the pano head.

3. Configure Camera Settings

As mentioned above, if you capture the image during the day, set the following configurations:

  • Camera Mode: Manual
  • Shutter speed – 1/10th or 1/20th
  • Aperture: F11
  • ISO: 640
  • Manual white balance: 4000 Kelvin

If the weather is not too bright or too cloudy, these settings will help to get the best possible panoramic quality.

Before you start the shooting session, rotate the camera manually and check if you are satisfied with the lighting and angles. Make changes to the settings if required as per your observation.

Always use manual mode when capturing professional photos. It will give you more control over the image quality.

And finally, attach the remote shutter release to the camera.

4. Capturing Your Panoramic Photo

Once the setup is ready, go ahead and initiate the photoshoot.

Most automated pano heads come with a remote. So you may set it up and initiate the capture from afar.

You could either stand behind the photo view or go sit in your car to avoid getting caught up in the image.

First, initiate the shutter release once and then initiate the pano head rotation using their remotes respectively.

Every time the pano head rotates, clip the shutter release ones.

Once you have covered a 360 angle horizontally, stop the rotation. Since it’s a fish-eye lens, it already covers 180 degrees vertically. However, it will still keep the top and bottom ends missing around the center.

So, you need to manually move the camera view up to 90 degrees and down 90 degrees to capture 2 photos.

Now, you have a total of 8 images from all angles on the shooting spot.

Your photo session is complete for this spot. You may then follow the steps you followed in this section to capture images for more spots that you have in mind.

Once you are ready with your images, it’s time to stitch them into 360 panoramas.

Step 3 – Stitching Images Into Panorama Photos

Stitching images for panoramas is not a manual process. You simply need to use good stitching software, and it will be done in just a few clicks.

1. Good Photo Stitching Software To Choose From

There are several software options available for stitching your panoramic shots.

Some of the most popular ones include:

Each of these software has unique features, but they all follow a similar stitching process.

2. Step-by-Step Stitching Process

The stitching process involves aligning and merging multiple overlapping shots to create a single panoramic image.

Here’s a standard process to stitch your panoramas:

Step 1: Import your images into the stitching software.

Step 2: Identify the order of the images and which ones are the upper and downward views.

Step 3: The software will automatically align the images using control points or features in the images.

Step 3: The images will then be merged into a seamless panoramic image.

Step 4: Adjust the cropping and straighten the image if necessary.

Step 5: Generate the final stitched panorama.

Now, your panorama is ready. But there’s more work.

3. Optimizing The Stitched Panorama

You will notice that the stitched image will have a few issues, such as low brightness, dull color balance, or some blurry areas. You may edit the image to improve these issues.

Tip 1: Adjust the exposure and color to ensure the final image looks natural and has balanced colors.

Tip 2: Improve blurred areas with custom sharpening.

Tip 3: Adjust the image tilt if necessary.

Caution: Avoid over-editing the image as it can result in an unnatural and over-processed final image.

Once ready, export the image, and that’s it. You now have a complete 360 panoramic image that you captured and generated.

Tips for Advanced Panoramic Photography

1. Use A Polarizing Filter

A polarizing filter will help you capture more vibrant and natural-looking images.

It reduces glare and reflections on water and other reflective surfaces. Plus, it can improve color saturation and contrast.

Practical Use: Screw it onto the front of your lens and adjust it until you achieve the desired effect.

Best Practice: Use a circular polarizing filter, as it is more effective than linear polarizers with autofocus cameras.

Also, try to position yourself at an angle to the sun when using the filter to get the best results.

2. Be Mindful Of Exposure Changes

While you’re capturing panoramic photos, the exposure can change from one shot to the next, especially if you are shooting during the golden hour or other times of changing lights.

After the 6 photos are captured, if you notice unsatisfactory exposure at a certain angle, capture from that angle again after adjusting the white balance and ISO to get a better shot.

Best Practice: Shoot during times of consistent light, such as midday or overcast days.

Use exposure bracketing, which takes multiple shots at different exposures, to ensure you capture the perfect exposure.

3. Avoid Moving Objects

Any moving object will ruin a panoramic photo by creating a ghosting or blurring effect.

So, before you start capturing, make sure there are no moving objects, at least around the scenery that you want, with the utmost quality in your panorama.

If there are trees around, avoid holding the photo session during windy weather.

Best Practice: In the case of external photography, shoot during times of low activity, such as early morning or late evening.

Tip: Use a fast shutter speed to freeze motion.

4. Experiment with Different Perspectives

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different perspectives when shooting panoramas.

Try shooting from high vantage points or low angles to add interest to your images.

Tips: Use a drone, if possible, to shoot from a high vantage point.

Alternatively, try shooting from a low angle by placing your camera on the ground or using a tripod with adjustable legs.

Best practice: Use leading lines, such as a road or path, to create depth and interest in your images.

Turning Your Panoramic Images Into A 360 Virtual Tour

Once you have your panoramic images, you may use them by creating a virtual tour for your business.

And it’s actually quite easy. In WordPress, you will find a plugin called WPVR, which lets you create stunning virtual tours in just a few clicks.

All you have to do is upload your 360 images, and the plugin will turn it into a realistic, interactive virtual tour. And then, you will be able to customize it and make it more engaging using tooltips, images, and videos, and even connect multiple views through a click-to-move button.

On top of these, you may use a lead form to collect leads, include your company information, add an explainer video, include a floor map, and even set it to be viewed using a VR Box.

This means your hard work in capturing panoramic images will pay off, as you will then have amazing virtual tours to stay ahead of your competition online.

Schlussbemerkungen

If you have the right tools, you can capture 360 panoramic images without many complications.

The quality of the outcome may be a bit shaky at the beginning, but as you gain experience, it will all become super easy.

And once you are good at panoramic photography, you may go ahead and create your own virtual tours. or offer panoramic photography services to other businesses that may want to use virtual tours.

So go ahead and get your camera equipment ready. start capturing high-quality panoramas now.

P.S. If you own a drone, then you can avoid these steps and do aerial photography instead to capture high-quality 360 panoramic images. Here’s a complete guide.

Kategorien
Guide Virtual Reality

Best 5 Panoramic Camera App for Android to Capture 360-Degree Images [2024]

Since you’re interested in Panorama images, you know how the popularity of panoramic photography increased among smartphone users in recent years.

However, you also know that traditional Android smartphone cameras have limitations in capturing high-quality panoramic images.

But don’t worry! There are some perfect panoramic camera app for Android in the market that offer a range of features to capture immersive 360-degree photos.

This article will discuss the top 5 panoramic camera apps available for your Android smartphone.

Once you go through this, you can choose the most suitable panoramic camera app for Android for you.

Let’s dive in.

Not an android user? Do you use iPhone? Here’s are some of the best panoramic camera apps for iPhones

Features to Look for in a Panoramic Camera App for Android

First, let’s have a look at the features or options a good panoramic camera app for Android should have.

You need to consider these features that contribute to the quality of 360-degree images.

Here are some of the features to look for:

i. Image Resolution:

Higher-resolution images provide more details and clarity, resulting in better-quality panoramic photos.

ii. Stitching Accuracy:

A good panoramic camera app should be able to stitch together multiple images accurately, without any visible seams or distortions.

iii. Ease of Use:

A user-friendly interface and straightforward navigation can make it easier to capture panoramic images on your Android device.

Top 5 Panoramic Camera Apps for Android

You’ll find many panoramic camera app for Android on the Google Play Store.

Here are the top 5 apps, along with their unique features and capabilities:

1. Panorama 360:

Panorama 360 is a popular panoramic camera app that will allow you to capture 360-degree images with your Android devices.

Panoramic Camera App for Android - Panorama 360

It allows you to capture 360-degree photos in high resolution and even supports VR viewing.

The app features a user-friendly interface, high-resolution image capture, and an auto-stitching feature for seamless panoramic images.

It also offers social sharing options, allowing users to share their panoramic photos directly from the app or send them via email.

The app comes with a variety of editing tools and filters to enhance your photos.

You can easily share your panoramic photos on social media platforms.

Features of Panorama 360 Android App:

  • 360-degree photos.
  • High-resolution photos.
  • VR viewing support.
  • Editing tools and filters.
  • Social media sharing.

Pros & Cons of Panorama 360 Android App:

Pros:

  • Easy to use.
  • Good image quality.
  • Variety of editing tools.

Cons:

  • Limited free version.
  • Some features require in-app purchases.

Average User Rating: 3.7 out of 5

App Reviews: 108k

App Downloads: 10M+

App Link: Panorama 360.

2. Cardboard Camera

Cardboard Camera is a panoramic camera app developed by Google.

Panoramic Camera App for Android - Cardboard Camera

It allows you to capture 360-degree photos and view them in VR with a Google Cardboard device.

The app features high-quality image capture, an auto-stitching feature for seamless panoramic images, and a virtual reality mode for viewing photos in 3D.

It also allows you to add sound to your photos for a more immersive experience.

With Cardboard Camera, you can easily share your panoramic photos with friends and family.

Features of Cardboard Camera:

  • 360-degree photos.
  • VR viewing with Google Cardboard.
  • Sound capture.
  • Sharing options.

Pros & Cons of Cardboard Camera:

Pros:

  • Good image quality.
  • User-friendly interface.
  • VR viewing support.

Cons:

  • Limited editing options.
  • Requires Google Cardboard for VR viewing.

Average User Rating: 4.4 out of 5

App Reviews: 162k

App Downloads: 10M+

App Link: Cardboard Camera.

3. Insta360

Panoramic Camera App for Android - Insta360

The Insta 360 camera is a cutting-edge panoramic camera designed to capture immersive 360-degree photos and videos. With its advanced features and intuitive interface, it allows you to create stunning panoramic content with ease.

Whether for personal use or professional projects, the Insta360 camera offers unparalleled versatility and quality, making it a must-have app for capturing life’s moments from every angle.

Features of Insta360 Panorama Camera:

  • Easy 360-degree photo capture.
  • Real-time preview and editing capabilities.
  • Advanced stitching algorithms for high-quality panoramic images.
  • Integration with social media platforms for easy sharing.
  • Additional features such as filters, effects, and virtual reality (VR) support.

Pros & Cons of Insta360 Panorama Camera:

Pros:

  1. Easy 360-degree photo capture for immersive experiences.
  2. Real-time preview and editing features enhance user experience.
  3. Integration with social media platforms simplifies sharing.

Cons:

  • Require significant storage space for high-resolution images.
  • Some advanced features may be locked behind in-app purchases.
  • Compatibility with certain Android devices may vary.

Average User Rating: 4.2 out of 5

App Reviews: 20.8k

App Downloads: 1M+

App Link: Insta360

4. Wide Camera – Panorama 360 HD

The Wide Camera – Panorama 360 HD is a powerful panoramic camera app for your Android device.

Panoramic Camera App for Android -Wide Camera Panorama 360 HD

It allows users to take 360-degree photos and offers a variety of features for editing and sharing them.

The app uses advanced algorithms to stitch together multiple images into a seamless panoramic view, resulting in high-quality images that capture the entire scene.

Features of Wide Camera – Panorama 360 HD:

  • High-resolution panoramic images.
  • Real-time capture and preview.
  • Automatic image stitching.
  • Advanced photo editing tools.
  • VR viewing support.
  • Social media sharing.
  • Live wallpaper creation.

Pros & Cons of Wide Camera – Panorama 360 HD:

Pros:

  • High-quality panoramic images.
  • Real-time capture and preview.
  • Wide range of editing tools.
  • Supports VR viewing.
  • Live wallpaper creation.
  • No ads.

Cons:

  • Some features require in-app purchases.
  • Limited free version.
  • Large file sizes may take up significant device storage.

Average User Rating: 3.5 out of 5

App Reviews: 1.17k

App Downloads: 500k+

App Link: Wide Camera – Panorama 360 HD.

5. Photaf Panorama by Bengigi

Photaf Panorama is a pretty good 360 camera app for Android that comes with a gyro sensor to guide you when taking 360 panoramas.

Panoramic Camera App for Android- Photaf Panorama by Bengigi

This panoramic photography app is well suited to capture 360 photos on the go as its sensor will indicate which angle to take pictures from next. If you are able to stay stable while capturing the images, then the app will automatically stitch the captured images into a 360-degree panorama.

You can even transfer your photos to your phone or desktop and use them to create virtual tours.

Features of Photaf Panorama:

  • Guided 360 image capture
  • Gyro sensor for compass & direction
  • Automatic Image Stitching
  • 360 Panorama creation
  • HD Panoramas (in Pro)

Pros & Cons of Google Street View:

Pros:

  • Guided photography to avoid flaws
  • Fast panorama generation
  • Access to their own featured photo library
  • 360 image capture for free

Cons:

  • Limited editing options.
  • Complicated UI
  • Sometimes errors in stitching

Average User Rating: 3.6 out of 5

App Reviews: 68.8k

App Downloads: 5M+

App Link: Photaf Panorama

How to Take Better Panoramic Photos

Capturing high-quality panoramic photos can be a challenging task, even with the best panoramic camera app.

Here are some tips to help you take better panoramic photos:

Choose A Good Location:

Look for a location with a scenic view or an interesting subject.

The more interesting the location, the better the panoramic photo will be.

Keep Your Camera Steady:

Avoid moving your camera while capturing the images for the panoramic photo.

This can result in blurred images or visible seams in the final photo.

Overlap Your Shots:

Make sure to overlap your shots by around 30% to ensure accurate stitching of the images.

Use Tripod & Gimbal:

Using a tripod can help keep your camera steady and make it easier to capture accurate shots for your panoramic photo.

Using Gimbal will keep your 360 images and videos super steady if you’re taking the shot by hand.

Use the right settings:

Adjust the settings on your panoramic camera app to ensure you capture high-quality images.

This includes adjusting the exposure, focus, and white balance settings.

Wrapping Up:

These were the top five panoramic camera apps for your Android device.

Each of these apps comes with its own unique features, pros, and cons.

Whether you’re looking for high-resolution photos, VR viewing support, or 3D effects, there’s an app on this list that will suit your needs.

Download these apps, experiment with their features, and capture stunning panoramic photos on your Android device. You can go through our next guide If you don’t know how to take a panoramic photo with drones.

** FAQs **

How do I know if my Android phone supports panoramic photography?

  • Most modern Android smartphones come with built-in panoramic photography features. Check your camera app for panorama mode. If unavailable, download panoramic camera apps from the Google Play Store.

Can I use panoramic camera apps on older Android devices?

  • Yes, you can use them on older devices if they meet minimum requirements. However, older models may face slower processing speeds or feature limitations compared to newer ones.

Are there specific techniques for capturing better panoramic photos?

  • Yes, techniques like selecting stable locations, keeping the camera steady, overlapping shots, and using tripods or gimbals can enhance stability and quality in panoramic photography.

Do panoramic camera apps require a lot of storage space on my Android device?

  • Panoramic camera apps may consume storage space, especially with high-resolution images or video recordings. Regularly delete old files or consider cloud storage options for managing space.

Can I use panoramic photos taken with these apps for professional purposes?

  • Yes, you can utilize panoramic photos professionally in real estate, travel websites, or virtual tours. It ensures high-quality representation and accuracy in depicting subjects or locations

Not satisfied with the quality of 360 images via Androids or iPhones? Then why not explore some of the best digital 360 cameras? It may turn out to be less hard work and better results. Here’s a list of the best 360 cameras out there.

Kategorien
Real Estate Update Virtual Reality WP VR

Interactive Virtual Floor Plan For Your Virtual Tours! [2024]

Great news for all VR lovers!

We have just released one of the best features for WPVR so far!

  • The Virtual Floor Plan

You can now include an interactive floor plan in your virtual tour where your buyers can see where they are in your tour and navigate to different scenes from right within the map!

And the best part, it’s super easy to use and can be applied to your existing tours as well.

Let us get a closer look at this amazing new feature.

Make The Tour More Meaningful With An Engaging Floor Map

Until now, you could create a complete virtual tour with WPVR and make it super engaging with hotspots, audio, and company details.

However, while a prospect takes the tour, it is often confusing to understand how the whole property is architected. What rooms are connected to the living room? Which direction is the balcony? Where is the kitchen in the house?

So far, your audience had to look around and find the rooms themselves, which, though enjoyable, often left many in a dilemma when taking a buying decision.

The virtual floor plan will change this completely.

If you have a floor plan ready for your place, you can now view it inside your virtual tour and map it out with your scenes so that a prospect will know exactly where they are on the property, and where to look to find various rooms or locations in your property.

It will give a clear idea of how the rooms in the house are distributed, thus making it easier to navigate on the tour.

But that’s not all. You can also place pointers on the map to indicate the locations of the scenes you have created in the virtual tour. And you can connect these pointers to their respective scenes so that viewers can click on them to move into that scene.

This will make the experience more engaging and meaningful for your prospects.

How Does It Work?

When you place the map in your tour, your audience will get an icon on the bottom right corner to click and view it.

Here you can check out the video on how it works for your viewers:

Here’s how it’ll work on your published tours.

On the map, you can click on the points to go to the associated scenes:

Virtual Floor Plan - Thumbnail

Your position on the tour will be highlighted on the map so that you know where you are.

This will make your audience aware of their position and make the navigation much more exciting.

You can also double-click on it to enlarge the virtual floor plan and have a better idea of your property.

Virtual Floor Plan Zoom

How To Set Virtual Floor Plan using WPVR

This is a Pro feature and is included in all WPVR Pro Plans.

Once you have WPVR Pro Installed and Activated, go to one of your tours, and visit the Floor Plan tab.

Virtual Floor Plan - WPVR

And Activate the Floor Plan.

You’ll find options to:

  • Upload the Floor Plan Image.
  • Floor Plan Pointers List.
  • Color Option for Floor Plan Pointers.
Upload Floor Plan to Virtual Tour

Once you upload the floor plan image, you can preview it.

And on the Preview, you can click on any position of the virtual floor plan and a pointer will be automatically set for that position.

Panorama Pointer on Floor Plan

You can drag the pointer over the virtual floor plan and you can also choose to delete it.

But most importantly, you can connect any of your scenes to this hotspot.

House Plans with Virtual Tours

Your viewers can click on these pointers to load the scenes.

That makes the transition really interactive!

From now, not only they can visit different scenes of your tour using the hotspot directions or the scene gallery, and they can navigate through an aerial view using this virtual floor plan.

On top of that, you can choose your desired color for the pointers as well.

Set Color to Floor Plan Pointers

To learn the details on how you can utilize it, follow this guide to set virtual floor plans.

Start making your virtual tours more interactive from today.

What’s Next With WPVR?

We are now focusing on making WPVR more user-friendly for you.

The next update of WPVR will Include:

  • Translation Support

We’re working on making all the strings of WPVR translatable so you can start using the plugin in your own language.

This is planned for our next sprint, and at this moment, we’re researching to find ideas that can help you make more engaging and impressive virtual tours.

For now, if you have any great suggestions, do reach us with your ideas and we will love to look into them.

And if you haven’t already, get WPVR now to create your own virtual tours in WordPress, easily!

Kategorien
Update Virtual Reality WP VR

Große Neuigkeiten! Einführung des VR-Headset-Modus - das realistischste virtuelle Tour-Erlebnis

Team WPVR is back with a massive feature!

Since the release of the plugin, one of the most demanded features was support for VR Headsets.

And after months of development and testing, we are excited to announce that it’s finally here!

You can now allow your audience to experience virtual tours via VR headsets!

Offer A Realistic VR Experience Like Never Before

The VR Headset support will change the way your audience will take the tour from now on.

VR Headset support for WPVR

Anyone who has a VR Headset or VR Cardboard will be able to enjoy your virtual tour in a near-realistic experience as if he is physically visiting your place.

And it’s really simple. All you need to do is to allow the VR Headset mode in your virtual tours and your prospects will be able to get a fully immersive experience via their mobile and the VR headset.

How does it work?

Your audience will get an option to enable the VR Headset mode right on the tour. Upon enabling it, the tour will turn into a bi-angular view as shown below.

VR Headset Mode In WPVR

Next, all your prospect needs to do is to place his mobile device into his VR Headset and that’s it! He will be in a whole new virtual world, away from reality.

But it’s not just a tour to look around. You will notice that while on the VR Headset mode, there will be a small indicator in the center of your tour.

When you look around, place the indicator on any hotspot for about 3 seconds, and it will act as a click.

So if it’s an information hotspot, it will open up the details, and if it’s a scene-type hotspot, then you will be taken to the next scene!

So your visitors will not just take a look around, but they will also engage and interact within the tour, thus making the tour much more appealing.

How To Allow Support For VR Headset for Mobile

This is a Pro feature, so to use this, you have to get WPVR Pro.

Once you have WPVR Pro, go to WPVR > Get Started > Settings, and there you will find an option that says VR Glass Support.

Enable The VR Headset Support for Mobile Devices

Simply enable this feature and that’s it – now, all the virtual tours you created will have an option to enable VR Headset mode when viewed on a mobile device.

What’s Coming Next?

The VR Headset for mobile is one of the best features yet, but this is just a start.

As promised earlier, we have refactored our plugin so that we can come up with more amazing features to help you create even better virtual tours. Hence, more amazing features are in store.

Following are some of the planned features for next quarter:

Individual Colors For Every Hotspot Icon

Right now, you can only use one single color for all hotspot icons. But we are working on allowing you to set different colors for different hotspots.

This will help you make the hotspots more meaningful, and help you highlight certain hotspots for special purposes.

WPVR Divi Module To Embed Virtual Tours

Divi is one of the best themes and builders out there. But until now, to embed tours in a Divi site, you had to use our shortcodes.

But we are working on creating a dedicated Divi Module to embed virtual tours on your site more easily.

A Fully Translatable WPVR

‘Translation’ is crucial and has been a barrier for many when using WPVR for a while.

But that will change soon as we are working on making WPVR fully translatable and will release support for at least 10 more languages in the core WPVR plugin.

Interactive Floor Plan

We are conducting research to bring in another out-of-the-box feature, interactive floor plan support for virtual tours.

However, as amazing as it sounds, it’s still quite a difficult feature to achieve within WordPress.

But we are determined to find a way to make it happen. Fingers crossed!

Do You Have Any Brilliant Ideas Or Suggestions?

We are also looking for great ideas to work on and we would love to hear your ideas.

If you have any suggestions or ideas to improve the plugin, feel free to suggest them in the WPVR product roadmap.

Einpacken

The VR Glass Support is one of the many features WPVR has to help you create high-quality virtual tours in WordPress, easily.

If you want to grow your business with advanced technology, then using virtual tours is a no-brainer.

So go ahead and start using WPVR and create amazing virtual tours for your business.

Get WPVR Pro now!

Kategorien
Update Virtual Reality WP VR

Eine neue Reise hat begonnen - WPVR ist überarbeitet und bereit

The WPVR team is excited to announce the release of the refactored versions of both WPVR Free and Pro.

We always have placed a priority on catering to the desires of WPVR users and wanted to bring in the features you asked for.

However, due to some complexity with the previous codes of the plugin, it was getting difficult.

But, those issues are in the past now!

Earlier this year, we decided to refactor the code of WPVR entirely.

And that would make the task of bringing in new features much easier.

Although so many possibilities were open in front of us, we also had some serious concerns:

  • How much the refactored version would affect the functionalities?
  • How our existing users will react to the changes?
  • What effect will it have on the virtual tours that our users have already created and using actively?

Keeping all these in mind, we continue the work.

And now, it’s here for you to test and try out.

Let’s have a look at what awaits you in this version.

1. Guide The Way – Setup Wizard

For the first-time users of WPVR, it was always a bit confusing to understand and start creating the tours.

Not anymore!

We have brought a Guided tour for the users – follow it and learn how you can create the tours most effectively.

Just click on the Setup Wizard Option under WP VR after installing the plugin.

WPVR - Refactored Virtual Tour Plugin

After that, you can go ahead a create the tours as you’ve seen in the wizard.

2. Efficient User Interface

There are a few changes we’ve made to our user interface.

In our older version, you had to move from the General Tab to the Scene Tab in order to upload a scene.

But in the new version, you’ll start from the Scenes tab – making the tour creation faster.

Once the panorama images are uploaded, you can go ahead and make additional changes.

Awaited Features - Virtual Tour Builder

Also, we’ve set global positions for the Preview button and tour shortcode.

Now, you can preview the tour anytime you want and copy the shortcode whenever you needed.

3. No More Annoying Tab Switching

Previously while creating the tour, when you click on Preview, it would take you to the default (General) section of the plugin.

And you had to manually go back to the tab where you started.

Now, this won’t happen anymore.

From now, when you’ll click on Preview, it’ll load your exact tab and position.

What’s Coming Next?

Since the refactored version is live, we are focusing on the features and improvements you’ve been asking for a while.

One of them, is obviously, Carboard support for your virtual tours.

The status of the feature and other details are already updated on our Public Roadmap.

To learn more about our upcoming features, checkout the WPVR Roadmap.

You can add more feature requests to the Ideas section of this Roadmap and upvote the ideas you’d love to see coming next.

Einpacken

Right now, the goal of the WPVR team is to continue making it robust and bring the demanding features one by one.

And for this, we need your help.

Try out the refactored version and check if everything is working on your end. See if you face any issues.

Think of the features that will make WPVR better and better.

Add them to our roadmap.

Together, we’ll make WPVR awesome!

Kategorien
Guide Virtual Reality WP VR

How To Create A Virtual Art Gallery in WordPress [2024]

‘Art’ is always among the most appreciated element in the creative industry. However, the recent pandemic (COVID-19 crisis) has changed how people cherish art galleries.

According to Artsy, the art gallery business went down by 22% since the start of the pandemic due to a decline in visitors.

However, this also means they saw a rise in auctions and painting sales ONLINE.

If you are an artist or own an art gallery, then it’s crucial that you start investing more in the online realm as soon as possible.

Sure, you can run an eCommerce site with all your paintings there, but that is not the best option.

Remember, buying and selling art are more influenced by emotions than the price. The more you can connect with the viewer, the higher the chance of a good bid.

That’s where a virtual art gallery comes in.

A virtual art gallery will help you create a real-life impression for buyers even when they are sitting at home and double your chances of selling more paintings in the process.

And learning how to sell art online will make it really easy for you.

In this article, you will learn:

  • Why you must use a virtual art gallery and how it can grow your revenue?
  • How you can easily create such a tour in WordPress, on your own?
  • The best way to make the virtual tour more engaging.

And eventually, you will be able to trigger more responses from interested buyers.

Fangen wir also an.

What is An Ideal Virtual (VR) Art Gallery Tour?

A virtual art gallery tour is basically a 360 virtual tour where you let viewers take a closer look at your paintings or art without a live visit.

The tour will allow buyers to zoom into the images, get extra details on the arts, and maybe, get an option to bid to purchase. As you can tell, this will intrigue art lovers and give them a real-life experience remotely.

The Biggest Benefits Of Using A Virtual Art Gallery

Why Go Virtual with your Art Gallery

As an artist, there is no better way to blend in with technological advancement than working with VR. If you do some research, you will see that almost all creative sectors are slowly embracing Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality.

Whether you are a painter, photographer, sculptor, or a vivid creative artist, you can easily get into the limelight with your virtual art gallery online.

In fact, it will help you connect more with the prospects and help you get more recognition.

Let us look at some of the main benefits you can enjoy using a virtual tour of your art gallery on your website.

  1. An Emotional Connection Without Fail
    • A virtual tour means the visitor will have full control over the navigation – the prospect will get to move around the gallery on their own and find their favorite piece of art.
    • You can further increase the engagement by adding tool tooltips beside your arts, which viewers can click or hover to get more details on them.
    • Overall, it will be a personalized experience and the visitor will surely remember it in the near future.
  1. A Comfortable Visit At A Suitable Time
    • Since the tour is available online, there is no restriction on the time of visit. So a viewer will get to visit whenever he/she is free and will be able to spend more time choosing the best art.
    • Plus, there will be no distraction – no crowd or annoying noises of any kind. This means every viewer will be able to view the best pieces of arts and observe their quality and appreciate the beauty as long as they want, without others standing around them.
    • Art is often difficult to read without proper concentration and while in the virtual tour, the viewer will be able to focus in complete silence and give full attention to the art. Thus, a greater chance of emotional connection.
  1. Educational And Entertaining At The Same time
    • Modern virtual tours always have ways to make the tour more valuable. You can provide details on the arts using a video, audio, or written text, where you can explain the meaning of the art or the history behind the idea.
    • Buyers always love emotional stories. So if you can provide a good story behind your art, you can attract more buyers that may want to purchase just because of the depth of the story this art holds.
  1. A Proven Business Solution
    • It’s obvious that your art gallery is not just for promotion or recognition, you also have a business goal. It could be a service you provide, paintings you sell, or products you want to auction out. A physical gallery always has its limitations. A virtual tour will enhance the possibilities of reaching more prospects.
    • You can get great international reach with a planned launch online. If you embrace proper product launch strategies, you can expect to get a great number of visitors right from the get-go. Maybe you can host a limited-time auction of antiques or collectibles or simply want to put your paintings up for sale. Or, you could showcase your talents and expect service inquiries for custom art. Simply create a virtual tour with a contact form for the right purpose and get the best bids from prospects all over the world.
  1. No Time Limitations
    • One of the barriers to a live art gallery or art museum is there is a limited time you can keep your doors open. Plus, while people are there, you are always on the run talking to different visitors at different times. So time management is quite hectic. You can overcome these via a virtual art gallery tour.
    • A prospect may not have time to visit when you are open. But, he can surely hop onto your website and take a tour whenever he is free. People who are passionate about art will love to get a visit and this tour will ensure they will not miss out on your fabulous art due to lack of time.
    • Plus, an engaging virtual tour will mean you won’t need to personally guide them on the art. Proper use of audio and custom text will keep the visitors engaged and guided, while you can wait for them to reach out when they are ready to get in touch.

If you own antiques, you can create a virtual art museum tour to show off your antiques, and get greater value for any items you want to put up for auctions.

How To Create A Virtual Art Gallery Tour Easily on Your WordPress Site

When you think of a virtual tour, it may sound like it’s complicated. But guess what, creating a virtual art gallery tour is rather quite easy, especially in WordPress.

You will find a few VR tools in WordPress that makes it super easy to create virtual tours. And among them, the best one out there is WP VR.

WP VR is a virtual tour builder that has every feature you need to create a complete virtual art gallery that is engaging and can help to convert more prospects effectively. The plugin will make it easy for you to create virtual tours which will allow your prospects to get a 360 panoramic view of your art gallery and get a sense of how it looks in actuality.

Step 1 – Take Finest 360 Photos of Your Art Gallery

WPVR requires you to provide 360 images of the location you want to turn into a virtual tour. So it is important for you to take high-quality panoramic images of your art gallery from the center of different areas.

You can take pictures using a DSLR Camera and then use a stitching app to turn them into 360 panoramic images. Or you can take 360 images using an iPhone which can be directly turned into a virtual tour via WVPR.

The quality is super important since these will be viewed by art enthusiasts all over the world.

Step 2 – Install & Activate WP VR

The first important step is to install and activate WP VR into your WordPress Dashboard.

  • Go to Plugins & Search for WP VR.
  • Install & Activate the plugin once you’ve located it. Or download the free version of WP VR from the WordPress repository.
  • Next, Upgrade to the premium version of WP VR

Here’s some further guidance if you face trouble installing the WP VR plugin.

Note: You can build a complete virtual tour with the free version. But with the premium version, you can make the tour more delightful.

Step 3 – Create a Virtual Tour

After installing the plugin, go to the WP VR General Settings.

General Settings - VR Art Gallery
  • Disable WordPress Large Image Handler on WP VR – this will keep the image quality intact for a better tour experience.
  • Enable Mobile Media Resizer – it will resize the tour for mobile and smartphone devices.
  • Disable On Hover Content For Mobile – this will remove the confusion between on-click and on-hover content from smartphones.
  • Front-End Notice for Mobile Visitors – it’s a great option where you can notify smartphone users with a pre-written notice.

Afterward, hover over the WP VR & Click Add New Tour.

Add new Virtual Art Gallery tour

After adding a tour, Add a title to the tour.

Add Title to VR Art Gallery
  • Enable Tour Autoload & Controls option.
  • Also, enable the Auto Rotation for the tour. And keep the auto rotation slow so that the doesn’t load too fast.
Tour Autoload and Auto-rotation

Step 4 – Upload a Scene

The next important task is to upload a scene. Go to the Scenes menu, provide a Scene ID, and click on Upload.

Upload Panorama Image to VR Gallery

Give the necessary information with the scene as well. If your art has a title, a dedicated author, and a portfolio of the author, you can add that information accordingly.

Image Title Art Gallery

After you’ve uploaded the scene and added the necessary information, click on Preview,

Preview Art Gallery Museum Tour

Afterward, you’ll be able to see a Tour Preview on the top right corner of your tour.

If the tour looks okay to you then click publish & your tour will be saved.

Publish Art Gallery Virtual Tour

Step 5: Add Hotspots to Increase User Engagement

Hotspots are specifically created to make a tour more engaging and interesting. In this case, you can pinpoint an art and add basic details of the art.

How to Add a Hotspot:

  • Just below the Scenes menu, go to the hotspot menu.
  • Click on a place on the virtual tour where you want to add a hotspot and some coordinates will appear under the Tour Preview section.
  • Select the coordinates of Pitch & Yaw. Simply click on the down arrow icon and it’ll be set automatically.
  • Provide a unique Hotspot ID.
  • Select the type of hotspot you want to have. For now, we’re creating an Info-type Hotspot.
  • Add an On Hover Content where you can display text, images, gifs, and even video files.
Hotspot on Virtual Art Museum Tour

After you’ve filled in all the necessary fields, you’ll need to update the tour from the bottom right corner of the Tour Preview.

Let’s check the hotspot directly from the website.

Hotspot Content on VR Gallery Tour

There are four types of Hotspots available for the free & premium versions collectively.

Info-Type Hotspots: The Info-type hotspots allow you to display art information, related images, videos, and combinations of all these on a hotspot.

Click here to learn more about Info-type hotspots.

Scene Type Hotspots: You can capture panorama images of your different rooms or halls and connect them using this hotspot.

Your guest can use these to move between all the locations inside your virtual art gallery tour.

Click here to learn more about Scene-type hotspots.

Fluent Form Hotspots: The Fluent Forms Addon is included with the premium version of WPVR. You can set contact forms or submission forms inside your virtual tours using this.

**I’ll tell you more about this later in this guide. So, keep on reading.

WooCommerce Product Hotspots: If you’re using WooCommerce and selling your arts or paintings through it, you can set the products on your hotspots.

Viewers can add them to their cart while roaming inside the virtual art gallery. This one is also available as a premium add-on.

Learn how to sell your arts using a virtual tour.

Step 6 – Advanced Controls & Control Buttons

You’ve created an awesome virtual art gallery tour for your visitors.

Now, what can we do next?

Let me tell you: making your tour better and more captivating using Advanced Controls and Control Buttons.

Advanced Controls

Advanced Controls for Art Gallery Museum Tour

The important set of features that you can enable to make the tour engaging are:

i. Gyroscope Control

A large number of your viewers will choose to view your art gallery virtual tour from mobile devices.

And you can really impress these viewers if you provide an interactive experience.

Enabling the gyroscope support on your VR gallery will make it respond to their movement and hook them with surprise.

ii. Scene Gallery

Your virtual art gallery will surely have multiple panorama images.

To give your viewers an idea of how large your gallery is, turn on the Scene Gallery option.

It’ll make it easier for your viewers to navigate inside the VR gallery as well.

iii. Tour Background Music

Enhance the experience of your viewers by adding background music.

A soothing background audio that matches the arts or paintings in your gallery will only complement the entire experience.

iv. Explainer Video

An explainer video is a helpful option for your viewers that can make their journey easier and provide some additional information as well.

It will guide your viewers on how to experience the tour, what they can expect in it and a heads up on some of the most interesting pieces of art they’ll experience in it.

Furthermore, you can enable or disable all these Control Buttons, based on how much control you want to give to your viewers.

Control Buttons of VR Art Gallery

Bonus Step – Let Your Viewers Easily Contact You

Once you have impressed your visitors with virtual art gallery tours, why leave the chance to connect with them and lead it to something more potential?

With the WPVR Fluent Forms Add-on, you can easily set contact forms inside your virtual art gallery.

You can add them in each scene, so they can choose to contact you any time, especially if one of your artifacts or paintings has got their attention.

This is something that’ll take you one step ahead of your competitors.

Add Contact Form in VR Art Gallery with WP VR
Beschriftung (optional)

Here is what a form will look like inside the tour.

Set Contact Form In VR Art Gallery

Author’s Notes

Last year, the number of sales of art and artifacts was 13.3 Billion U.S dollars. So this is a great sign that you too should start using a virtual art gallery to increase your audience engagements and hopefully, grow your business.

So go ahead and create a virtual art gallery for your website using WPVR.

Take help from the latest technology and get the recognition you deserve.

Kategorien
Guide Virtual Reality

What Is A Virtual Tour? – Learn All About Virtual Tours – Detailed Guide [2024]

Virtual reality has been booming since late 2019. And after the Covid-19 outbreak & lockdowns, more and more people started to embrace advanced technology.

In fact, virtual reality is now one of the prime technologies in demand.

It is estimated that the VR industry will reach about $57.55 billion market value by the year 2027.

The most significant form of VR technology today is virtual reality tours or simply virtual tours.

Today, you will be able to get a thorough in-depth understanding of ‘what is a virtual tour’.

I’ve gathered all the essential information you need to learn.

I started with the basic definitions and went to the advanced uses of the virtual tour.

Today, you will be able to get a thorough understanding of ‘what is a virtual tour’.

I have gathered every essential information you may want to learn, starting with the basic definitions to advanced uses of the virtual tour.

After reading this article, you’ll learn:

  • What a virtual tour is and it’s purpose
  • Knowledge on different type of virtual tours
  • How a virtual tour is beneficial to your business
  • Affordable solution to creating a virtual tour
  • Basic knowledge on creating a virtual tour on your own
  • Example implementation of virtual tours.

In short, you will know exactly why you should start using virtual tours to grow your business.

Fangen wir also an.

Learn All About Virtual Tours

What is A Virtual Tour?

To fully understand what is a virtual tour, you need to know the meaning, definition and need to be clear about confusion that commonly arrise.

Let’s Understand What Virtual Tour Mean First:

A panoramic view or video simulation of an existing or conceptual place that can be viewed online, i.e., exploring a realistic place virtually.

Imagine you live somewhere in the US and you always wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

What you can do is use your smartphone and search for ‘Eiffel Tower virtual tour’ on Google or Duckduckgo. On the search results, you will find the first choice is a virtual tour of the Eiffel Tour. Click on it and you will be looking directly at the Eiffel Tower through your phone screen!

Notice that you can listen to the tourists’ chitchat and move your phone to look around the place. It’s as if you are really there and you are enjoying a tour of the Eiffel Tower.

This is exactly the realistic experience you can get with any virtual tour.

A virtual tour is usually a virtual representation of a real place, which you can explore remotely from your phone or computer.

Just like the Eiffel Tower, you can create virtual tours of any place for various reasons. For example, realtors often use virtual tours of properties to attract buyers.

Let’s look at Virtual Tour Definition Elaborately:

A virtual tour is a type of semi-immersive virtual reality where you view a virtual environment for a semi-realistic experience.

Let us look at it more elaborately.

Virtual reality comes in many forms and the virtual tour is one of them. While defining a virtual tour, you may look at a few features that make a virtual tour different from other forms of VR.

It’s when you view a virtual environment through a device, but you do not necessarily need to move to view the tour. Neither you control a character.

You simply get a view of the environment as if you are looking at it in reality (often referred to as the first-person view), and you can look around using a mouse or a keyboard on a PC, or by swiping your fingers on a smartphone screen.

The first example of a virtual tour dates back to 1994 (as per Wikipedia). An interpretive tour was created for a museum that included a 3D walkthrough of Dudley Castle (1550) virtually reconstructed.

Most virtual tours have Gyroscope support, which somewhat gives you a near-realistic experience since you have to move the phone to look around.

The ones that are supported by VR boxes, those virtual tours feel more realistic as when you experience one, you will feel like you are standing in the center of the place.

However, you will only be moving your face or turning around – movements of your body parts won’t have any impact on the tour.

Nevertheless, it is still the most effective and affordable VR solution.

Let’s Clear The Confusion : Virtual Tour And Virtual Reality

Virtual reality can be referred to as any form of a virtual environment that requires engagement. This could be fully immersive (e.g. virtual medical training), non-immersive (e.g. RPG strategy games), semi-immersive (e.g. virtual tour), etc.

A virtual tour is a type of semi-immersive virtual reality experience.

2. Types Of Virtual Tours

As you now understand what virtual reality is, I will now explain these 5 types of virtual tours below :

5 types of virtual tours

Let us look at these types of virtual tours in depth :

1. Guided Video Tours

When thinking about developing virtual experience, the early so-called virtual tours were actually guided video tours where a sequence of videos was used to give you a tour of a location.

Explainer video adding in virtual tour

  

Apparently, virtual tours evolved gradually with technology to increase the engagement it has today.

In the past, guided video tours were often referred to as virtual tours.

Though it can be considered as a virtual experience, it is rather a tour where you, as a viewer, have no control. You will only look at what is being shown in the video.

As per modern-day knowledge, a guided video tour is no longer considered a VR experience.

 2. 360 Virtual Tours 

People have long advanced from guided video tours and started using 360 virtual tours.

A 360 virtual tour is basically where you can get a complete virtual 360-degree view of the environment – you can view the place from the center, with more control over navigation.

Virtual 360 Degree Meaning
You will be able to completely turn in a circle in any direction whether top and around or sideways within a virtual environment.

This is the modern-day virtual tour that most businesses use nowadays. In fact, it is the most affordable form of virtual tour solution out there today.

3. Google Street View Tour

Google also came up with an exclusive solution for virtual tours. Since Google already has the Street View feature in the maps, they decided to allow users to extract the virtual view of a certain location and embed it on their website or mobile app.

This Street View tour is a typical virtual tour connected to the Street View world in Google maps. So initially, you will start at the intended location, but then you can navigate yourself to other places just like you do in Google Earth. As this technology gains popularity, often near tourist attractions scanable brochures or banners can be seen for virtual tours on a QR code.

 4. Virtual 360 Video Tours   

Then emerged the new form of virtual reality, 360 video tour. It is a form of a virtual tour where you get to experience a 360 video and navigate in a 360 view while the video is playing.

These types of virtual tours became possible thanks to the high-quality 360 digital cameras that were invented and released in the last two decades.

However, as amazing as it sounds, it still didn’t get as much popularity as an ordinary 360 virtual tour simply because of the high expenses involved, and the lack of engagements compared to a traditional virtual tour.

 5. Visual 3D Dollhouse 

The most advanced form of a virtual tour was developed by a handful of companies, the most notable one being Matterport.

They introduced the Visual 3D Dollhouse form of virtual tours. It’s the only form of a virtual tour that is closest to a real walking tour.

However, it is also the most expensive form of a virtual tour (ranging from 2k to 8k dollars for a single tour).

Initially, you will get a 3D model of the house, and then you may enter the house to get a virtual tour where you can click to move here and there within the house. It doesn’t stay limited to the center of a room; rather you can move positions within a room.

The dollhouse concept was mainly used by Home Development Companies and Architects before a house was built. But many large firms invested in creating a Dollhouse virtual tour for themselves and to get more online traction.

Comparing A 360 Virtual Tour And A Virtual 360 Video Tour

360 Virtual TourVirtual 360 Video Tour
Created by converting a 360 panoramic image into an equirectangular virtual environment.A 360 video can be directly recorded using digital 360 cameras.
More scope of interaction with tooltips, click-to-play videos, multiple scenes, custom hotspot icons, etc.Limited to the video itself with just 360-degree navigation from the center.
Less expensive to create and develop professionally.More expensive when hiring a professional.
Tools to embed a virtual tour on a website offer more interactive customizations to increase engagements.Embedding a 360 video tour on a website has no extra customization scopes, hence no extra engagements.
Gives more control to the visitor and creates more interactions, thus helping to trigger a buyer’s interest when using virtual tours for business purposes such as selling a house, promoting hotel rooms, etc.It is more ideal for fun and social activities such as traveling, vlogging, or parties, but not engaging enough to help in boosting business revenue.,

So in short, use 360 virtual tours when it is a business purposes, and use virtual 360 video tours when it is for fun and entertainment.

3. Who Uses Virtual Tours And Why?

In parallel, the field of enterprise mobile application development is increasingly integrating virtual reality elements to enhance user engagement and provide innovative solutions in various sectors.

Here is the list of industries or businesses that should use virtual tours (if not using already) as a part of their marketing strategies.

Virtual tour users industries

i. Real Estate

This is probably the industry that is using virtual tours more than any other.

When selling a house or property, or simply renting out an apartment, a virtual tour can help buyers get hooked immediately.

The potential client will get to experience a realistic view of your property, which is way more engaging than regular images.

So you will have a better chance to get calls from interested clients.

Sadly, many prominent realtors are still hesitant about using such technology and prefer going the old traditional way.

This will have to change soon if they want to stay in the competition for long.

ii. Hotel & Resort

You will find that a lot of international hotels are now using hotel virtual tours to attract tourists and travelers.

Most people usually like to find out how a hotel looks and get information on the services and charges, before deciding where to reside during vacation or tourism.

And you can show them every little detail about the rooms you’re offering by adding a ton of information inside the virtual tour itself using tooltip hotspots and other customizations.

iii. Museums:

Since the pandemic began, most museums have gone through some really tough times.

But a few museums managed to keep their reputations up by offering free virtual tours of some of their sections while promoting paid virtual tours on other sections.

Virtual tours are also a great way to preserve historic relics online.

iv. Restaurants & Bars

When visiting a bar or restaurant, people tend to notice if the environment is suitable for hanging out or comfortable, else they refrain from coming back.

If you are confident about your restaurant or bar, then you may create a virtual tour and place it on your website. This will help to grab the attention of the people who are researching online to find out a suitable place to hang out or probably dine in.

A well-made virtual tour of your restaurant will always encourage your customers to consider taking a visit and if they enjoy their first visit, they will definitely become returning customers.

You may also provide your menu and contact details on the tour, or even add a contact form for home delivery.

v. Art Gallery or Exhibition Halls

One of the more potential industries that can flourish using virtual tours is Art Galleries or Exhibition Halls.

Most art galleries and exhibitions regularly organize live events to showcase the artworks which are often open to auctions or purchasing.

The good news is, these creative arts can be auctioned and sold online as well. But rather than creating an e-commerce style online market, you can consider using a virtual tour.

In that regard, online visitors will enjoy the tour and will get to view all the available arts in a realistic way.

Plus, you can use tooltip hotspots to provide extra details about the arts such as the meaning or the thought behind the artwork or the artist details, etc. And you may even add a contact form for inquiries related to purchasing and auctions.

If your artworks are not for sale and you are organizing a paid event, then you can use virtual tours for two exclusive purposes:

  • All a free virtual tour of a small section of the exibit and ask your visitors to buy tickets to the actual event.
  • You can run an online virtual event and allow people to take access to the exibit for a small fee.

Whichever way you use virtual tours, it will get you great exposure and good business.

In fact, a virtual tour will mean people from all over the world can take part, and you can get visitors 24/7.

4. Traditional Virtual Tour Creation

Traditional Virtual Tour Creation

Once you know the basics about virtual tours, your next question is probably “How to create a virtual tour?”.

Creating a typical virtual tour can be very affordable or expensive depending on how you create it or what purpose you are creating it for.

Normally, to create a 360 virtual tour, you will need 360 panoramic images and a virtual tour builder.

360 Panoramic Image –

A type of image that is captured through Panoramic photography and can be converted into a 360 virtual tour using an appropriate tool.

You may seek professional help to create virtual tours, which can be quite expensive since 360 photography costs a lot (ranging from 1500 to over 3000 dollars), and agencies tend to charge a high fee when building virtual tours (commonly around $500). But you will get quality output.

However, it is possible to reduce that cost by capturing 360 panoramas on your own and using an online virtual tour builder.

Creating A Virtual Tour On Your Own

If you have time, then it’s best to create your own virtual tour without any professional help and believe me, it’s not as complicated as it sounds.

To create a virtual tour on your own, you will simply need to follow the 3 steps below-

i. Collect the right virtual tour equipment to capture 360 images

When capturing 360 images, you will need a digital 360 camera and a Monopod. We suggest you use the Ricoh Theta V camera.

Initially, a digital 360 camera may seem expensive. However, as you saw earlier, professionals would charge almost twice as much just to create one single tour. But with your own camera, you can capture as many as you want.

Once you have the two pieces of equipment, you can capture the 360 panoramic images easily. Simply follow few smart tips and you will be good to go.

It’s best to capture images of multiple scenes or locations of your house/property that you can include in the virtual tour. For example, if you are creating a virtual tour of a house, you may capture a panoramic image for each room it has.

ii. Use a reliable virtual tour creator

You will find several tools out there that you can use to create virtual tours.

However, you should go for a virtual tour builder that is

  • Easy to use and has actionable tutorials,
  • Customizable for optimized engagements,
  • Cost-effective with quality output.

If you run a WordPress site, then you will find a reliable plugin, called WPVR.

WPVR is currently the best virtual tour builder in WordPress that is both cost-effective and convenient as it has detailed actionable tutorials to start using the plugin immediately.

Plus, you will be amazed with some of the tours that it’s users have made so far. Take a look.

Simply use the virtual tour creator to convert your captured 360 panoramic images into a virtual tour.

iii. Optimize the virtual tour for your target audience

Now, a virtual tour is only as good as its engagement potential.

Even if you use high-quality panoramic images, how well the visitors will respond to it completely depends on how you optimized it for engagement.

Most VT creators will allow you to add extra details such as tooltip hotspots, website links, custom hotspot icons, etc.

But it’s up to you how well you make use of them.

For example, in an art gallery tour, it’s ideal to add a small tooltip for every artwork to give more details about the art and the artist.

For restaurants, you may rather use a hotspot near the counter to add a click-to-view menu.

Plus, as I mentioned earlier, it’s best to have multiple panoramic images so that you can allow visitors to move between each scene within a single virtual tour for a realistic feel.

You may also include a scene gallery to let the visitor know of all the available scenes in a quick preview.

Try to use all the relevant features you will get with the tool and aim to create a welcoming and engaging virtual experience.

For example, in the case of WPVR, you can use:

  • Auto-rotation.
  • Company Logo and Information.
  • Tour Location Details.
  • Interactive hotspots.
  • Custom Controls.
  • Gyroskop-Unterstützung.

You may also use engaging hotspot actions to view:

  • Text.
  • Audio.
  • Video.
  • Website URL.
  • Contact Form.

Und viele mehr.

The idea is to use the engaging elements that you think your target audience will find appealing. Give the visitor the most interactive experience possible and get him/her interested and intrigued right away.

5. Affordable Solution For Virtual Tour

By now I believe you probably can realize that a good virtual tour depends a lot on the tool you choose. But you should also look at the cost.

Simply put, using an expensive solution may not generate as many conversions as required to cover up the cost.

Choosing a tool that is both affordable and provides enough features to create engaging virtual tours is a vital factor for your business.

If you’re using WordPress, then you won’t have to worry about it. WPVR is a plugin that was built to meet these requirements.

Take a look.

 Virtual Tour Pricing

i. WPVR Yearly Plans

WPVR pricing

ii. WPVR Lifetime Plans

WPVR

The lifetime plans may seem a bit high at first glance. But keep in mind that, you’ll be paying only once and you can use the plugin for as long as you want (One-time virtual tour pricing).

WPVR comparatively costs way less than most other virtual tour creators when considering the quality of output and ease of use.

6. Some Example Virtual Tour Ideas Implementation

Below is the implementation of some virtual tour ideas that you can experience:

i. Virtual Tour of A Property

Here is a virtual tour idea of a real estate property.

Here you can see how beautifully the hotspots were used to make it engaging.

You can create a similar virtual tour for your house as well.

ii. Virtual Tour of Hotel Room

Take a look at this hotel room tour which is ideal for tourists.

**Click on the Form Icon on the yellow wall. You will see, there is a contact form to book the room.

Hotel Room Tour For Tourists

This is a great way to promote hotel room booking.

iii. Virtual Tour of A Car Showroom 

You can even promote your car showroom using a virtual tour.

**Hover on the hotspots above the cars to see how you can highlight the car details elegantly.

Whether you are the manufacturer or simply own a car showroom to sell cars from multiple brands, a virtual showroom tour such as this one can be a great medium to increase sales.

iv. Virtual Tour of Grocery Store

Online sales have seen a great surge since the pandemic, And online grocery sales have reached their peak this year.

And having. a virtual grocery store tour can be a great way to sell your grocery products.

**Click on the hotspot icons for each product to see how you can sell WooCommerce grocery products through a virtual tour.

Grocery Store Virtual Tour

Here is a virtual grocery store tour you can check out.

This is a great, modern way to sell on eCommerce sites. You can use the same type of tours to promote a supermarket, bakery, general convenience store, clothing store, or whichever store you may have.

v. Virtual Tour of Pub

So local bars or pubs have embraced virtual tours to attract more local regulars.

Most people want to feel comfortable about how a pub looks like when visiting and a virtual tour online can definitely attract the ideal prospects.

Take a look at how this virtual tour of a Pub is so welcoming to the locals.

Just like these amazing virtual tours, you may use your creativity to craft your own virtual tours that can bring you more business.

Common Questions & Answers Regarding Virtual Tours

Let us look at some common questions people have regarding virtual tours.

1. Do People Like Virtual Tours?

Do People Like Virtual Tours

People will stay 5 to 10 times longer on your website if have at least one virtual tour.

This is justified since virtual tours are interactive and users can control and look around them.

So the answer is Yes, people love virtual tours.

2. Do Virtual Tours Increase Sales?

According to TIG Global, using virtual tours as a marketing method resulted in up to a 67% rise in conversion and successful bookings.

Remember, engagement is the key to conversion. And a virtual tour can definitely connect with visitors more effectively than texts and images, or at times, even videos.

3. How Big Is The Virtual Reality Market?

The global virtual reality market was estimated at $59.96 billion in value in 2022.
By the end of the year 2024, it is expected to grow at a compound annual rate 27.5%

4. How Many People Are Interested In VR?

Needless to say, this is the century of the millennials, i.e., people aged between 18 to 34. Any technology that can target this age group successfully will definitely flourish.

– The millennial population of the US is 72 million.
44% of the millennials are interested in purchasing a VR device.

This is a clear indication that any VR content is ideal to grab the attention of millennials.

– According to Yulio Technologies, 41% of all adults would give VR technology a try, if they’re more available.

So the question is how many VR users are there in 2021?

– Approximate 58.9 million people are using VR technology once a month in the US.

This number is around 17.7% of the total US population, i.e., almost 1 out of every 5 US citizens are now using VR technology every month.

Though it’s hard to craft an exact number on how many people may prefer virtual tours, looking at the numbers in the US, it can easily be said that billions of users are interested in VR technology all over the world.

5. How Do I Make A Virtual Tour for Free?

Some of you may have the question “Are virtual tours free?”

Well, most VR tools are very expensive, while a few are more affordable.

The good news is, there are a few virtual tour creators that released a FREE version with limited features.

In WordPress, you will find the plugin WPVR, which will allow you to create great virtual tours for free.

Though many of its exclusive premium features are not available, WPVR free version will still let you create high-quality virtual tours which you may use on your website.

– Follow this guide to learn to make a virtual tour for free.

6.  What Makes A Good Virtual Tour?

A quality virtual tour for your business should have these features:

– Proper indications to help you move around the tour.
– List of the rooms and spaces in the tour.
– High-quality image support.
– Hotspots or pointers where you can learn more about any specific place or object.
– A way to contact your business for inquiries or booking.

At the end of the day, the tour has to be interactive.

8. How Do I Create A Virtual Tour Completely On My Own?

It’s quite easy to create a virtual tour on your own with a little guide.

– Read this complete guide to create a virtual tour on your own.

9.  What Is A Virtual Tour of A Property? / What Are Real Estate Virtual Tours? / What’s A Virtual Apartment Tour?

What Are Real Estate Virtual Tours

Real estate virtual tours are created using multiple 360 degree panorama images of that property combined together. They give you a realistic view of a property or apartment and move in and out inside the property.

You can visit different locations inside the house, choose to view every room, and interact with the materials inside the apartment.

10. How Do You Do A Virtual Apartment Tour? 

You can easily create a virtual tour of your property or apartment using panorama images taken by you.

Use a 360 virtual tour software to convert the panorama images into a functional apartment virtual tour.

However, if you’re aiming for superior quality, you can use a camera specialized for capturing 360 degree panorama images.

Then your job will become even easier with the 360 virtual tour software.

11. How Much Does A Virtual Tour Cost? 

The average cost for 360-degree photography is around $350 in the US.

A quality 360-degree shot takes time to perfect and adjust for the photographer.

You’ll be paying this price one time only and then you can keep on using them.

12. Are Virtual Tours Profitable? 

According to Entrepreneur, A virtual tour business can generate up to $100,000 per year in revenue.

On the other hand, if you’re planning to use virtual tours as a marketing strategy for your business, you can consider these 2 stats:

– In the real estate industry, using virtual tours decreased wasted viewings by 40%.

– For the hospitality industry, customers aged between 18 to 34 are 130% more likely to book a place if there is a virtual tour.

13. Should I Start A Virtual Tour Business? / How Do I Start A 360 Virtual Tour Business?

If you’re already providing any photography service, then adding 360-degree photography to your list will give you an opportunity for extra income.

Most of the latest DSLR cameras can capture 360-degree panoramic images and there are a few moderately priced 360 virtual tour software that will help you to create the tour.

At first, you’ll have to invest some time to learn 360-degree photography and the virtual tour software itself (which is less than $100).

However, since you can charge around $350 for a single project, you can find it profitable after just 3 projects.
In the beginning, you should focus on creating virtual tours for your local businesses like:

– Your local real estate agents.
– Small shops, cafes, & restaurants.

Once you’ve gathered some experience and learned your way around it, you can move to expand your service even more.

14. Do Virtual Tours Help Sell Houses?

Here’s a simple rundown of the impact of virtual tours in the real estate industry, run by realtor.com:

– Property listings with a virtual tour received 87% more views than the regular ones.
54% of the potential buyers choose to skip a listing that doesn’t offer any virtual tours.
– 75% of the buyers think that virtual tours are a significant factor in taking decisions like, whether to visit the property in person & rent/purchase the property.

15. What Is The Best Virtual Tour Software? 

This actually depends on the requirements and features you’re looking for in the virtual tour software.

There are 2 tools that you can check out:
Matterport – Popular for their Dollhouse virtual tour. However, they do have a simplified virtual tour creator. Price: $200 to $7000+ per year.

WPVR – A plugin that is currently the best virtual tour creator for WordPress. It includes the features you actually need to create an engaging virtual tour and has an easy-to-use interface. Plus, it is among the most affordable virtual tour solutions out there. Price: $79.99 to $269.99 per year.

16. What Is The Best Free Virtual Tour Software? 

If your website is made with WordPress, the best free virtual tour software for you is WPVR – Virtual Tour Creator.

This free virtual tour software has the following features:
– Unlimited virtual tours.
– Super high-quality image support.
– Image, Text, Video, & GIF file support inside the tours.
– Keyboard, mouse, & mobile control.
– Made with a mobile-first approach.  

Einpacken

“What is a virtual tour?” is probably no longer a question in your mind. You also saw how a virtual tour can help businesses attract prospects. Plus, you now have the guidelines to start creating a virtual tour on your own.

Now the next question is when will you start using a modern-day virtual tour?

If you run a WordPress site or run an agency that develops WordPress sites, I suggest you try using WPVR once just to see how you may benefit from using this virtual tour builder.
Try WPVR Free version
Get WPVR Premium

If you have more questions regarding virtual tours or if you find any particular topic regarding virtual tours was missed in this article, feel free to let us know in the comments section.

Kategorien
Virtual Reality WP VR

Was gibt es Neues bei WP VR - Riesige Updates [2020]

In den letzten Monaten haben wir wirklich hart gearbeitet, und jetzt ist WP VR auf der nächsten Stufe angelangt.

Sie können jetzt noch einfacher virtuelle Rundgänge erstellen und mit all den neuen spannenden Funktionen hohe Umsätze erzielen.

Zum Beispiel können Sie jetzt Formulare in eine virtuelle Tour integrieren, so dass die Besucher Anfrageformulare einreichen können, oder Sie können eine virtuelle Tour in eine andere Website einbetten, die nicht zu WordPress gehört.

Lassen Sie uns einen Blick auf die neuesten spannenden Funktionen werfen, die Sie mit dem neuen WP VR nutzen können.

Was ist neu bei WP VR?

  1. Ein brandneues Aussehen
  2. WPVR-Sauerstoff-Bauelement
  3. Multisite-Unterstützung
  4. Integration von Fluent Forms
  5. WooCommerce-Integration
  6. Einbetten einer virtuellen Tour in eine Nicht-WordPress-Website

1. Ein brandneuer Look

WPVR hat jetzt ein brandneues Aussehen auf der Benutzeroberfläche, mit dem Sie virtuelle Touren noch einfacher erstellen können.

Sie werden sehen, dass Sie jetzt auf der rechten Seite eine Vorschautour machen können, während Sie auf der linken Seite die Tour bearbeiten.

Außerdem ist der Abschnitt "Allgemeines" jetzt in 3 Teile gegliedert.

  • Grundeinstellungen
    - Dieser Abschnitt enthält lediglich die grundlegenden Funktionen wie automatische Drehung, Vorschaubild, Überblenddauer der Szene und Show-Steuerung.
WP VR Grundeinstellungen
  • Erweiterte Steuerelemente
    - Diese Registerkarte enthält erweiterte Funktionen wie die Begrenzung der Tastatur- und Mausnutzung, Gyroskop-Unterstützung, Anzeige der Szenengalerie, Einfügen von Hintergrundmusik und Hinzufügen eines Firmenlogos.
WPVR Erweiterte Steuerelemente
  • Steuerungsschaltflächen
    - Hier können Sie benutzerdefinierte Symbole für Navigations- und Steuerungsschaltflächen in der Tour aktivieren.
WP VR Kontrollknöpfe

Außerdem haben wir aktualisierte Video-Tutorials, die Ihnen auf dem Weg dorthin helfen.

Sehen Sie sich die Tutorial-Videos hier an: WPVR Vollständige Video-Tutorials

2. WPVR-Sauerstoff-Bauelement

Gefällt Ihnen der neue Oxygen Builder?

Nun, jetzt finden Sie eine spezielle WP VR-Element für Oxygen Builder, um virtuelle Touren auf allen Seiten oder Beiträge, die Sie mit Oxygen Builder bearbeiten einzubetten.

Es ist ganz einfach.

Suchen Sie im Elementbereich nach WP VR, und Sie sollten ein Element namens WP VR Tour finden.

Wählen Sie einfach die Tour aus, die Sie einbetten möchten, und legen Sie die gewünschte Größe fest. Und das war's. Die Tour wird auf der betreffenden Seite/im betreffenden Beitrag eingebettet.

WP VR-Sauerstoffelement

Hier finden Sie eine vollständige Anleitung, wie Sie diese Funktion einfach nutzen können.

3. Multisite-Unterstützung

WP VR hat jetzt volle Multisite-Unterstützung. Das bedeutet, wenn Sie der Netzwerk-Administrator eines Multisite-Netzwerks sind, können Sie jetzt das Plugin auf Ihren Subdomains oder Unterverzeichnissen von einem einzigen WordPress-Dashboard aus verwalten.

WP VR muss nicht mehr auf jeder Unterdomäne oder jedem Unterverzeichnis einzeln installiert/aktiviert werden.

Dies ist besonders nützlich für bestimmte Website-Besitzer wie z. B. Immobilienmakler, die im Rahmen des Multisite-Paradigmas mehrere Subdomains haben können.

Verwalten Sie also WP VR auf einer Multisite ohne Hindernisse.

4. Integration von Fluent Forms

Sie können jetzt Formulare, die mit Fluent Forms erstellt wurden, in Ihre virtuellen Touren integrieren.

Dies ist eine lang erwartete Funktion, die Ihnen helfen könnte, Ihr Unternehmen auf die nächste Stufe zu heben.

Wenn Sie zum Beispiel eine virtuelle Tour für einen Autohaus erstellen, können Sie den Besuchern die Möglichkeit geben, Anfrageformulare für jedes Auto einzureichen.

Es ist ganz einfach.

i. Ein Formular mit Fluent Forms erstellen

ii. Erstellen Sie bei der Bearbeitung eines virtuellen Rundgangs einen Hotspot an der Stelle, an der die Besucher auf ein Formular klicken sollen, um es einzureichen.

iii. Wählen Sie als Hotspot-Typ "Fluent Forms".

iv. Wählen Sie dann das von Ihnen erstellte Formular aus einer Dropdown-Liste in den Hotspot-Einstellungen aus.

v. Aktualisieren und veröffentlichen Sie die Tour auf einer Seite, und schon kann es losgehen.

Kontakt-Formular in der virtuellen Tour

Hier finden Sie eine vollständige Anleitung, wie Sie diese Funktion einfach nutzen können:

**Diese Funktion ist ein Add-on, wenn Sie WPVR Pro kaufen.

5. WooCommerce-Integration

Wenn Sie einen Online-Shop haben, den Sie mit WooCommerce verwalten, dann ist dies eine wichtige Funktion für Sie.

Sie können Ihren Besuchern jetzt die Möglichkeit geben, direkt von der virtuellen Tour aus eine Vorschau anzuzeigen und Produkte in den Warenkorb zu legen.

Nehmen wir an, Sie besitzen ein Bekleidungsgeschäft und haben auf Ihrer WooCommerce-Website einen virtuellen Rundgang durch das Geschäft. Dann können Sie Produkt-Hotspots auf den Kleidungsstücken auf dem Rundgang verwenden, so dass die Besucher darauf klicken können, um eine Vorschau der Produkte zu sehen und sie in den Warenkorb zu legen.

WooCommerce Produkte im virtuellen Rundgang

Und auch diese Funktion ist sehr einfach zu bedienen.

i. Erstellen Sie bei der Bearbeitung eines virtuellen Rundgangs einen Hotspot auf dem Produkt, das die Besucher bestellen können sollen.

ii. Wählen Sie als Hotspot-Typ "WooCommerce Product".

iii. Geben Sie dann in das entsprechende Feld den Namen des Produkts ein, und Sie erhalten Vorschläge für die in Ihrem Geschäft verfügbaren Produkte.

iv. Wählen Sie das entsprechende Produkt aus. v. Aktualisieren und veröffentlichen Sie die Tour auf einer Seite, und schon kann es losgehen.

Hier finden Sie eine vollständige Anleitung, wie Sie diese Funktion einfach nutzen können.

**Diese Funktion ist ein Add-on, wenn Sie WP VR Pro kaufen.

6. Einbetten einer virtuellen Tour auf einer Nicht-WordPress-Website

Sie können jetzt eine virtuelle Tour auf Ihrer Website erstellen und sie dann auf einer anderen Website einbetten, die nicht zu WordPress gehört!!!

Angenommen, Sie haben eine zweite Website, für die Sie nicht WordPress verwenden.

Sie möchten dort jedoch die gleichen virtuellen Touren verwenden, die Sie auf Ihrer WordPress-Website erstellt haben. Das können Sie jetzt ganz einfach tun.

Veröffentlichen Sie einfach die Tour, und Sie erhalten einen Einbettungslink (mit iframe-Tags), den Sie auf anderen Websites verwenden können, um die virtuelle Tour dort einzubetten. So einfach ist das.

**Diese Funktion ist ein Zusatz, wenn Sie WPVR Pro - Unbegrenzte Lizenz auf Lebenszeit kaufen.

Kommende Funktionen

Bei all diesen Funktionen, die es bereits gibt, fragt man sich, wie es weitergeht. Nun, wir haben einige neue Funktionen geplant.

  • Walking Tour - Sie bewegen sich auf dem Rundgang, als ob Sie zu Fuß gehen würden.
  • Grundriss - Sie können eine Übersichtskarte hinzufügen, auf der die Besucher eine Szene anklicken können.
  • Virtueller Cubemap-Rundgang - eine andere Form eines virtuellen Rundgangs, der mit Bildern erstellt werden kann, die keine 360-Panoramabilder sind.

Und viele weitere sind auf dem Weg.

Hier ist unsere öffentliche Roadmap, damit Sie unsere Entwicklungsfortschritte im Auge behalten können:

Schlussbemerkungen

Wie Sie sehen können, wird das Plugin immer besser, und mit den aktuellen Funktionen werden Sie sicherlich mit den Besuchern in Verbindung treten und mehr Engagement erzeugen.

Holen Sie sich also jetzt WPVR Pro und genießen Sie alle Funktionen, die Ihre Tour attraktiver und gleichzeitig produktiver machen können.