Pano2VR

Pano2VR can provide immersive virtual reality experiences starting from common panorama photographs.

The application is not exactly what I would call “user-friendly”, which means that it has a somewhat steep learning curve. My opinion is that there are still possibilities to make its interface less intricate and thus easier to navigate.

PanoVR supports importing panorama photos in various formats, including JPG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, Radiance HDR and QuickTime VR. Likewise, it lets you switch the panorama projection to a flat, cylindrical, spherical and strip-style one. One of its greatest features is that it allows guiding viewers through the most interesting details of the panorama thanks to its support of animation paths.

The application requires loading the source images. In this regard, if you are using various photographs, it is possible to stitch them together and even get rid of unwanted tripods. The application can also fix other problems, for instance, it can use a patch tool to fill in the blank spaces that appear when you convert a strip-style panorama into a cylindrical one.

Luckily, it is possible to add interaction to your panorama. Thus, Pano2VR supports linking images as well as adding hotspots, directional sound and video. Moreover, there is a built-in skin creator that lets you add buttons and controls as well as define their functions. Luckily, there is absolutely no need to write code to make them work.

There are various ways to share the resulting panoramas with other people. One of the most interesting is probably by adding them to Google Street View. Moreover, it supports other methods, such as exporting to HTML4, Flash and QuickTime VR. Likewise, it lets you post them to various content manager system (CMS), like WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. The possibility of exporting panoramas with multiresolution is an advantage that minimizes their load time.

Unfortunately, although I admit there could be some kind of incompatibility with my hardware, the application sometimes failed to preview the imported photographs properly.

All in all, Pano2VR creates highly customizable panoramas. It supports multiple views, adding interaction and embedding sound, video and pictures. Likewise, it lets you share them in various ways. The product is available in two licenses: Standard and Pro, but can be tried for free.