Photos are too static and video too plain. However, a virtual tour is an ideal medium that could be used to show the campus of Tallinn University. A total of 30 spherical 360° panoramic photos were taken in the spring and summer of 2016 in an area consisting of several large buildings and two courtyards, which now represent Tallinn University as a virtual tour - both in Estonia and abroad.
When taking photos, I tried to capture not so much the rooms as what happens inside the rooms. After all, a university is not only a building, but above all all the people who work and study inside this building. You can see these people and their activities in the panoramic photos of this virtual tour.
With such a virtual tour, it is good to introduce the university to cooperation partners from foreign countries and others interested in the school. Such a virtual tour is also a great tool at trade fairs - it can be displayed there on a regular screen and in the near future also shown through virtual reality glasses. Different departments of the university can show the virtual tour on their website. In addition to the tour, the university's marketing department will have access to the large panoramic photos that form the basis of the tour - such as the ones in the slideshow above. These flat photos can be used both online and in print. Thus, the field of use of a virtual tour is much wider than it might seem at first.
From a technical point of view, the virtual tour of Tallinn University is by far the most complex and complete that I have prepared. Not so much in terms of photography, but in terms of the user interface. Menus, buttons, integrated videos, information panels and everything else are designed so that the tour is visually similar to the university's website and complies with the rules of the university's style book. There are many different elements in the user interface of the virtual tour - the list below provides an overview of the most important ones.
The following elements are used in the virtual tour of Tallinn University:
A spherical aerial panorama shot by a drone
Menu with a special solution
Watch the embedded video
You will see an integrated and "stretched" video
Google Maps map to show location
A diagram of the campus that can be used to navigate
Information points within the tour – touching/clicking on a point opens an information window
Separate user interface for smartphones
The virtual tour of Tallinn University can be found by scrolling down a little on the homepage of the university's website or by pressing the button below. I hope you like it 🙂
Virtual tour of Tallinn University
