With the extensive lockdowns that have happened across Melbourne and the rest of Australia during the recent pandemic, schools, universities and businesses both large and small have had to rethink how they can entice customers and students back into their premises.
Previously, some photos snapped on a DSLR camera or hand held video tours on an iphone may have been suitable for giving viewers a taste of what they could expect at a certain venue, but this is the modern world and we all now expect the highest quality in the media we consume.
Fortunately, the technology in the area of 360 degree cameras and small cameras such as Go Pros has progressed exponentially since their early versions and the output quality is very impressive and of an incredibly high standard, although I have no doubt that the best is yet to come with this kind of camera technology.
Man with a Camera Photography in Melbourne have pivoted from corporate event and business photography to a new type of photography service. They have been instrumental in helping numerous Melbourne based businesses and institutions reconnect with potential customers or visitors through the use of 360 degree photography which can give online visitors a virtual tour into the location they are searching for.
This kind of tool has been perfect for schools, kindergartens and universities, where it has negated the need for in person contact through visits, tours or open days which is ideal for reducing the risk of community transmission.
Using a combination of high end Matterport virtual tour cameras and Ricoh Theta Z1 cameras for the perfect finish, the team at Man with a Camera have devised the perfect workflow to offer realistic and sharp images that don’t have the real estate ‘look’ where everything looks too perfect, thereby giving the viewer a level of believability, especially when viewing through virtual reality goggles.
Most of the clients this virtual tour photographer has been commissioned by since the start of the pandemic have been happy to upload the 360 images to their Google business listing, from where they are connected to each other to create the street view tour which can be viewed via the businesses pages or on Google maps.
This is a great way of keeping the cost to a minimum while still offering clients an impressive experience. Perfect for cafes, restaurants and small establishments like kinder or child care.
Larger educational institutions such as schools and universities have chosen to invest a little more financially by creating virtual tours outside of the Google ecosystem, which offers more flexibility and ownership over the content.
Some of the virtual tour services recommended by most photographers are Matterport, Open Space and CloudPano, which are those most commonly used for real estate 360 walk through tours.
Once the tour has been created, information can be embedded on the tour to give descriptions of the space, facts, simply a name of the room or even links out to other resources. For example, the image of a science lab in a school or university tour may link out to another page with information about the science department or course prospectus.
The beauty of these services is that they can be hosted on a client’s own website or embedded on any webpage with a simple piece of html code.
Many businesses and organisations have been hit hard by the recent pandemic, but using new and useful technology, they’re managing to continue engaging visitors and potential clients, albeit virtually.
With time we’re going to start seeing students and customers visiting business premises and universities in the numbers that that were were used to seeing a few years ago, when life was somewhat more normal, but until that time 360 Photography and Interactive virtual tours are an excellent way for business owners to enable customers to experience their business and gain a firm understanding of the goods, service or experience on offer.
