What Is a Virtual Tour and How Do I Create One?

If you've ever used the Street View feature in Google Maps, you've already taken a walkthrough. The virtual tour and its tools are already several years behind them but are experiencing a significant leap due to the health crisis. Despite the climate of uncertainty, however, people continue to want to buy an apartment, run their business, take an interest in art or dream of an upcoming vacation.

Crisis or no crisis, distance could already be a brake or an obstacle for these same activities. How to create a virtual tour, without being a virtuoso of technology? And what is it exactly? From the shelves of a store to the alleys of a garden, there is only one click.

Digital tours are easy, however, creating it is no walk in the park. Anyone who is planning to create this sort of solution likely has many questions regarding the format and features, and other development aspects. As an VR app development company that has created many vr virtual reality for clients around the globe, we are ready to answer your questions and guide you in creating your own virtual tour.

The virtual tour, a visual experience with many advantages

A virtual tour software allows you to model a space in 3D from a 360-degree shot or several photos, in order to offer a “visit” from your computer or mobile device. The space thus put online is “browsable” and can be personalized with interactive features.

We can also go further thanks to virtual reality for an immersive experience. Far from being just one more technological gadget, the virtual tour is full of advantages and the platforms compete in creativity when it comes to functionalities. Here are the main advantages of the virtual tour, excluding specificities of a sector.

For companies:

Requires little material

Low to moderate costs for high profitability

Viral potential on social networks

Increase in visits and clicks

Usable visit statistics

Improved SEO

Permanent access

Image enhancement

For the customers:

Access to remote sites or sites closed to the public

Pleasure of the immersive and interactive experience

Free rich content

Trust in the brand (transparency)

Better Decisions

The sectors that benefit from the virtual visit

Many sectors find an interest in the creation of a virtual visit: stores, workshops, agencies, factories, museums, monuments, natural spaces, all can open their doors and offer a privileged visit at any time.

The industrial sector

How to organize a visit of its facilities to its customers without embarking on complex logistics? By giving them access to your virtual tour and playing the guide from a distance. The virtual visit in an industrial environment is also a time saver and a modern way to present your workshop or factory. Places requiring strict security measures suddenly become accessible.

It can provide information on the manufacture of a product, the various trades, or even provide training in health and safety measures for your employees. The virtual visit is a permanent medium that you can display on your stand during a trade show or meeting.

In addition, industrial tourism, known as economic discovery, is experiencing remarkable momentum. The atlasvirtual even devotes a complete file to it. Something to satisfy all those curious about the theme and give a touch of modernity to your image.

How to create a virtual tour?

If you are a photographer at heart, you surely have professional or semi-professional equipment. However, today's smartphones can produce quality photos. You will then simply need to equip yourself with a wide-angle lens for smartphones and a rotating base for the 360° socket.

Once uploaded and processed on the chosen platform , it will generally be hosted on the publisher's Cloud. Depending on the features offered by the latter, you can enrich your panoramic visit with media content.

Finally, all you have to do is embed the link on your site or share it directly on your social media accounts. Google Maps also allows you to integrate the virtual visit of your establishment to its location on the map.