When people talk about virtual tours, they usually mean either a 360° tour or a 3D walking tour. What’s the difference though?
A 360° virtual tour is very similar to photo slideshows.
Only in this case, the slideshow is made up of 360° panoramas. A 360° Virtual Tour is a simulation of property or landscape by displaying interactive panoramic images that feature an existing scene/room or location, giving visitors a 360° degree view and the best sense of being there.
A 3D virtual tour is made up of 360° panoramas as well.
But in addition to what 360° tours can offer, they also have 3D navigation and depth, which makes for a much more immersive experience.
Now that you’re familiar with both of these types, the question is: Should you make 360° or 3D virtual tours?
To help you answer that question, let’s go through some important considerations:
1. What kind of experience are you going for?
If you want to give your viewers an emotional experience, then a 3D virtual tour would be best.
For one thing, 3D tours are more immersive. They can make your visitors feel like they’re actually at the site, exploring every single inch of it, especially if they’re viewing your tour through VR headsets. And the more immersive an experience is, the more emotional it is, and the longer your viewers are going to remember it. That should translate to more donations too.
Your visitors will also be able to appreciate the dimensions of the site more in 3D. They can look up and see just how high the ceiling is, travel through the room and experience just how massive the space is, and get struck with that feeling of awe when they think of how tiny they are in comparison.
But maybe you don’t need to make your viewers feel emotions like that.
Maybe all you’re trying to do is stand out from the usual deluge of images and videos on the internet. If that’s the case, maybe a 360 virtual tour will work well enough for you.
2. How much spatial information do your viewers need?
Thinking about it from a potential customer’s point of view, does it really matter if they can see just how big or small your place is? Not really, right? It should be enough if your tour can convey your Real estate theme and atmosphere, which a 360° tour can definitely do.
But what if your listing is also an event venue, and you regularly rent it out for business meetings or student events? Then the size and layout of your space becomes useful information for potential buyers. They’ll need that to figure out if your real estate is big enough for the number of people they’re going to invite, and if the layout is suitable for the activities they’re planning to do. In that case, it might be better to make your virtual tour 3D instead.
3. Do you need to generate a 3D model or floorplan of your space?
Say you’re a property developer with a new condo project. Besides a virtual tour, you’d like to have a miniature 3D model of the building for display too.
In that case, you could save yourself a lot of time by making 3D virtual tours instead of 360° ones.
3D virtual tour platforms can automatically create 3D models while you’re ordering the tours at Home3ds.
If you need a floor plan, we can generate those from your 360 panoramas too.
360° virtual tours don’t have this option at all. So if you decide to make 360° tours instead, you’ll need to build your 3D models and floor plans separately.
Contact us for more information.
