Friday, July 23, 2010

Panoramic Earth Supports Pestival and Termites

Pestival 'celebrates the art of being an insect through awe-inspiring hands-on and multi-platform events and ideas, leading up to a biennial festival with a local and global reach.' As part of the project they created the Termite Pavilion - a model of the inside of a termite mound, scaled up to human size from a 3D scan of a termite mound from Namibia.

Inside Pestival's Termite Pavilion in London ZooInside Pestival's Termite Pavilion. 360 panorama (c) Peter Watts - all rights reserved

The resulting structure, made from sustainable Austrian spruce laminate, currently stands in London Zoo, one of the top London attractions, next to the Bird Display Area and close to the Bearded Pig enclosure and London Zoo restaurants.

London Zoo is a ticketed attraction in London and very popular. London Pass holders get free entrance to the zoo and jump the queues.

This virtual tour was kindly taken for Pestival, fee of charge, by Peter Watts and Panoramic Earth is pleased to be able to support this project with free image hosting and distribution.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Panoramic Views from Apple

Digital panoramas are an incredible sight to behold and can be displayed across a variety of technologies including; the internet, web browsers, DVDs, CDs, and a computer’s hard drive. Each of these choices have their own separate limitations depending on your viewing options. Today, there are quite a few different playback applications, especially for Apple devices, from which you can display panoramas.

First of all it is worth knowing that there is no special type of equipment required to view panoramas, though Apple devices are ideal for many people. It is possible to view panoramas on just about any modern computer operating system without the use of a special display or projector. Just make sure that your monitor is properly calibrated for colour. And in most cases, there is no special software needed – but if there is for the device you’re using it is easily accessible and usually comes with the product you have purchased.

As we all know computer hardware and software evolves very quickly. That means that the technology for viewing panoramas improves frequently and it may be difficult to set specific standards for the minimum system requirements for displaying digital panoramas effectively. It is helpful the know that the newer your computer or device, the better the panoramic display will likely be. If you are shopping for new computer equipment, try doing a search for PC World discount vouchers to save a little money on your purchase.

As mentioned, the main methods of accessing and viewing panoramas include the web browser, DVD, and a hard drive. However, the playback applications include the QuickTime Player Pro, Java, iPix, SpinControl, ActiveX, and Flash. In most cases, QuickTime is ideal for Apple computers and devices. It is also possible for some of these players to be embedded into the HTML of a webpage, so that visitors to your website can benefit from any panoramas that you upload.

For many photography and computer enthusiasts, Apple computers and devices are the top of the line. More and more people today are turning to Apple products for their work and entertainment solutions, ranging from the iMac to the MacBook Pro to the iPod and the iPhone. Many people even use the newly released iPad for sharing photos and viewing panoramas.

It is possible to purchase Apple devices from a number of places. In fact, those looking to save a little money may opt to use PC World discount codes for significant discounts on Apple products. However, most Apple devices can be bought online at reasonable prices or directly from the Apple store online, though shopping around may allow you to save on shipping, tax, and overall cost. Regardless of where you do your shopping, you should always do plenty of research before making that final purchase. Do you want a laptop or a desktop computer with a fancy large monitor? Is an iPod or iPad enough to view your pictures? It all just comes down to how good you want your panoramic views to look when displayed.

Disclaimer: This is a guest post, the views expressed herein may not be those held by Panoramic Earth.

Monday, July 19, 2010

WCCI 2101 uses Panoramic Earth

The Barcelona tour on Panoramic Earth has been recommended by the 2010 WCCI (World Congress on Computational Intelligence). The interactive map and tour is listed as on of the Barcelona Maps on their 'getting about' page. The whole tour is shown below. It can be embedded on any site following instructions on the Use a Tour page.


Barcelona tour provided by Panoramic Earth. All rights reserved.

New Panoramas on Panoramic Earth