Much has been said the passing months about 360 degrees photos and virtual tours, or better known as "Google Street View Tours". The pandemic has made it clear that we can no longer visit our favorite places as much as we would want and this resulted in a significant boost towards the virtualization of places and businesses around the world, for the time when we can visit them again. A while ago, 360 degree hardware equipment (and business opportunity) was fairly new and just for photographers with big pockets and much spare time for the learning curve. 360 degrees photo hosts were very few and expensive and in order to accomplish an adequate level of quality someone had to pass several expensive "masterclasses". Businesses were almost unaware of the new technology abilities, the integration of such photos in their sites was a pain and the overall cost was relatively high.
But like many things before, as time passes by, the hardware equipment gets mainstream and cheaper and image quality is boosted in every new camera release. Many photographers have tamed the learning curve and have posted several tutorials online, most of them free of charge. There is no need for post processing hacks anymore, as most of the image processing programs have now integrated the panorama and 360 degree export features. Also, several 360 degree image hosts have emerged, many of which offer free of charge services, fairly adequate for small businesses. Many business owners such as hotels, hostels, Air-BNBs, real estate agencies etc have learned and valued what the 360 degree ability means to their clients and buyers and rush to have their offers "virtualized".
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| No 360 viewer plugin There are currently three types of 360 degree photo integration offers for a business who wants to be current. For the first, the business owner has to start a business site in Google Street View and have the 360 degrees photos uploaded to their related space, or make a virtual tour out of them. This gains the most views as even passing by clients can get information on demand from the Google Street View platform before entering the the property and it certainly has the most business exposure. Unfortunately Google's methods are not so straight forward and business owners are difficult to find their way to complete this process all by themselves, especially if they are not accustomed to the process. A trusted Google Photographer can help fulfil this task from start to end, which is not so expensive when you consider the level of exposure and global effect for your business. |
The next type of integration is the most common among business owners who don't want frequent updates to their business site (although I would strongly advise for regular updates), business owners who have had their site running for a long time and need to implement a touch of virtual connection to their facilities and property. This type of integration requires an external image host provider supporting 360 degree photos (Google Drive and most of image hosting providers do not offer such capabilities) and a special block of code integrated in the business site where the virtual tour should be placed. In this manner, the photographer can just charge a fee for all the 360 degree photos and then give them to the business site designer for integration (with explicit notes on how to integrate them if needed).
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Finally, there are many mix and match cases where the photographer is hired for an entire Virtual Tour or Google Street View style solution, where the viewer can go from room to room, look around, change time of the day from day to night and get information for every item with 3D info tags and other add-ons. We can even integrate videos (360 degree videos also available) without the need for an additional external 360 image or video provider, except the one that hosts the entire business site.
Having passed all the stages of the learning curve and gained my Google Trusted Photographer Badge, I know how these all may sound to someone new to this concept. But as time passes by and everyone searches for internet advice for everything and in every possible way (especially new generations), businesses have to grow more attractive and informative to their clients and offer even the ability of a visit simulation, or a virtual tour in their premises. The photographer and integration costs have decreased significantly and the quality of the services have raised in the most impressive way.
And just remember: you are not paying for hardware, but for professionalism and business exposure, which is essentially an investment for your success to what you are doing.
