VRs

Sometimes a single shot doesn’t seem to be enough. What if a viewer could turn around in the scene? Hear the wind rustling, the birds singing?

Early on, these immersive images were called QTVRs, Quicktime Virtual Reality. Created by taking a sequence of images that are stitched together, they permitted viewers to turn around and see the scene as if they were standing in its center. Sounds and hotspots, clickable areas that permitted the viewer to step into a new scene, could be added to add to the experience. The format was eventually dumped by Apple as they updated Quicktime, allegedly to begin rebuilding their code from the ground up, modernized and better than ever. Any holding their breath, however, would have long keeled over by now. Along came HTML5 and 360° images were alive and well.

Now virtual reality is expanding into the world of video and gaming, but its humble roots can still create effective immersive experiences.

Click on the image here to enter such an experience.