Virtual Tour Blog by Panedia
enjoy beautiful, high resolution, panoramic photography
Would you like Food with that Pano…
We just updated the Panedia Preview with 20,000 new markers for Accommodation, Food, Attractions… you get the idea. I’ve also been working through my backlog of Panoramas (in my spare time 😉 ) and we now have over 1500 panos on the site, with a LOT more still to come. Audio is still seriously lagging, but we’ll get to that. Click this image for the Panedia Preview. If you’ve not visited Panedia in the last couple of weeks, we’ve added Canberra (The Nations Capital), Adelaide, Melbourne CBD, Geelong, Robe, Beachport & and some of the Great Ocean Rd – where the weather was unfortunately not kind when I was shooting. (Note: audio will only be found in Noosa, Alcatraz & Darling Harbour for the moment)
Gold Coast Indy 2007
Anyone for Champ Car or V8 Supercar racing? The Gold Coast Indy 2007 is running right now, I spent some time on the track yesterday shooting virtual tours. I didn’t have media accreditation so no special behind the scenes shots unfortunately.
Panedia Preview…
My apologies for the dormant blog, it was set up as a precurser to the main attraction, that attraction just moved one step closer. May I present a preview of Panedia, with over 700 virtual tours for your viewing pleasure. It’s still very early days with a great deal of functionality & testing to come. I’ll keep you posted as new features are added. Click the image below and spend some time checking out The Sydney Opera House or Darling Harbour, Brisbane’s South Bank, Noosa, Broken Hill, Melbourne’s Docklands, Alcatraz, San Francisco & Fisherman’s Wharf + plenty more… Click this image for the Panedia Preview. You need Flash 9 to see the Virtual Tours in Panedia. We’ll be adding other viewers soon, including hardware accelerated viewing for those who like the ultimate in pano quality. Let me know what you think of the site. Loves, Hates & want to see’s (Note: audio will only be found in Noosa, Alcatraz & Darling Harbour for the moment)
Alcatraz Virtual Tours
I’m back from San Francisco which was brilliant. As you might imagine I shot quite a bit in the 2-3 days I had spare. I haven’t posted a new Pano for almost a month, to thank you for your patience I’ve put 50 new panos 1/2 with audio on Google Maps for you to enjoy. The place is none other than Alcatraz – The Rock. You MUST view the Fullscreen versions to get any appreciation for this very cool place. Click this image for the Virtual Tours. INSERT_MAP
Pano Drought
G’day one and all, I apologise for the lack of Virtual Tours lately, but the drought will continue a while longer. Today I’m on a plane to San Francisco for 2 weeks. I’ll be shooting a lot and spending time at the IVRPA (International VR Photographers Assoc.) conference. In the meantime, you can check out the 200 – 300 panos on my website to satisfy your hunger If you’re in San Francisco or LA and want to catch up, please send me an email or leave a comment.
Google Day 2007 – Mapped Panos
Rather than put the Google Developer Day 2007 Virtual Tours in my blog, I’ve used my VR/Maps application to put all the VR’s on a map. Of course the event happened inside a building, so I’ve placed the VR markers approximately where those things happened inside the building. You MUST view the Fullscreen versions to get any appreciation for the very cool building the day was held in. Click this image for the Virtual Tours.
Google Developer Day 2007
See this Virtual Tour in FullScreen High Definition mode. Opens In New Window + Audio FullScreen Virtual Tour [1.8MB] Yesterday saw me at the Google Developers Day 07 in Sydney, Australia. Google did a fantastic job decking out a beautiful old building for the day, putting on great food and drink, and even throwing in some good talks by top developers…what more could you ask for? I shot about 15 Virtual Tours at the event and hope to put them on a Google Map for you over the weekend. Check back often, or subscribe to my feed to find out when it’s done. INSERT_MAP
Noosa Virtual Tours
We should have returned to our normal viewing by now, after the great Googlemapsmania post, but we haven’t. This post isn’t a standard one either. Google have just today released an amazing new addition to their maps, 360 degree virtual tours through major US cities, with a lot more to come. Check it out here. Today I’ve also released a demo of my own using Google Maps & Virtual Tours. (Shown Above) It’s a small technology demo using very high quality Virtual Tours, that are not shot on roads. You can check it out here. Have a little fun getting to know Noosa and let me know what you think. (But remember it’s only a basic demo, and none of the hotels or restaurants are real)
Welcome Google Maps Mania Readers.
Skip to the latest Destination. This blog is about showing Virtual Tours from various destinations. But in honour of being featured on the illustrious Google Maps Mania Blog (which I read religiously) I’ve done a quick ‘Best Of’ so passers by have an instant overview. BTW, I’ll be in San Francisco from the 12th to the 24th of June to attend the IVRPA International Virtual Tour Conference (this year hosted at UC Berkeley, by the legendary lads that run the World Wide Panorama events) so if anyone wants to invite me to lunch (hint – Google employees), to hang out, or do some ‘photo walking’ (hint – Thomas Hawk) drop me a line, I’d love to meet up & shoot some Hi rez, georeferenced virtual tours with audio Enough talk already, onto the BEST OF according to me. (Click an image to view the blog entry & virtual tour, & not all panos have audio.) Broken Hill, New South Wales. Hobart, Tasmania. Gold Coast, Queensland. (My Home Town) Bicheno, Tasmania. Sons Of Korah, AGMF (Australian Gospel Music Festival). Docklands, Melbourne, Victoria. Stanley, Tasmania.
Stanley, West Side
This is the west side of Stanley, on the wharf.
Stanley, Lighthouse
This lighthouse, built in 1924, was originally active at Highfield Point, but was replaced by a post light and relocated here to the Stanley waterfront as a memorial to local sailors.
Stanley, Chair Lift
There are two ways to get to the top of the nut. One is to walk, the other is to catch the chair lift. I was going to walk, but the thought of lugging my gear up there didn’t appeal too much. I’m glad I didn’t ’cause once you are on the nut, the track around the top of it is another 30 minute walk.
Stanley, Wharf
In 1892 workers building a breakwater here set 5000 pounds of dynamite into the mountain above. After the huge explosion no rocks fell. Then 12yrs later fractures caused by the blast finally gave way and 200,000 tons of rock suddenly crashed to the ground.
Stanley, Godfreys Beach
Here on Godfreys Beach – Stanley, we have a great view of the Nut. Yesterdays Virtual Tour was on the far right edge of the Nut, directly overlooking the town.
Quest Launceston – Apartments
Discover the excitement of Northern Tasmania while staying at Quest Launceston, a magnificently restored heritage building superbly located in the heart of the city and next door to the restaurant precinct, city mall and tourist information centre, and only minutes to the renowned Cataract Gorge, Boags Brewery & River Cruise Terminal.
Stanley, Tasmania
Stanley in the far North West of Tasmania, is a gorgeous little town with a monolithic rock known as ‘The Nut’ towering over it. We’ll be seeing a lot of the Nut over the next week or 2, but in this Virtual Tour we are on the top of it. 134m (440ft) above the town, on top of the Nut, we can see almost every single building that comprises Stanley, what an incredible view.
Docklands, Art Journey
In our final Docklands virtual tour we again feature urban art. This piece is called Silence, by Adrian Mauriks, if you want to know more, you’ll need to visit the Art Journey on the docklands website. The Docklands is a beautiful place, and very undercrowded which is nice. With trams running every few minutes it’s very easy to get from the Docklands to Melbourne City in no time.
Docklands, New Quay
In this virtual tour we’re just outside Limonetto a gelati & icecream shop of the coolest design (no pun intended).
Docklands, Grand Mercure
See this Virtual Tour in FullScreen High Definition mode. Opens In New Window FullScreen Virtual Tour [0.9MB] This Virtual Tour is Level 16, in the Grand Mercure Docklands. We stayed in the building while doing work for the Grand Mercure, but unfortunately not in this exquisite room
Docklands, Cow Up A Tree
Back at ‘Cow Up A Tree’. The inspiration for this work comes from the Australian Landscape and a strong water-based theme. The artist saw images of a violent flood which swept cattle into trees only to leave them stranded once the flood subsided. Read More Here. This was to be our last Docklands Virtual Tour for now, but I think I’ll continue north and provide a few more panos of the ‘New Quay’ area.
Docklands, Victoria Harbour
Standing on the edge of Victoria Harbour, we’re almost surrounded by Shoal, urban art by Cat McCleod & Michael Bellemo. The inspiration for this work is a flying shoal of fish, fishnets, fish scales, fishing lures and rippling water.
Docklands, Aurora Urban Art
The Docklands is packed with heaps of great urban or public art. Unlike any other place I’ve covered so far, they’ve actually made a webpage to provide details of the art. Bravo. So in this virtual tour we’re looking at the Aurora, by Geoff Bartlett. It’s a huge, impressive piece which takes the form of an inverted cargo net, which is symbolic to the history of the Docklands as a place of transit for goods & people.
Docklands, Bourke St
Here at the intersection of Bourke St & Harbour Esplanade we can see all the way back into the city, as well as some more Urban Art. We have the Continuum, by Michael Snape on one side of the road, and the Aurora, by Geoff Bartlett on the other. You can check out all the Docklands Urban Art here. Melbourne Docklands Reviews, Links, Websites – Click Here
Docklands, Parks
This hill is about the highest point in the Docklands (excluding any buildings of course) so it affords a good view over the southern areas. As you can see there is a lot of green down here, lots of parks and play areas, and even BBQ facilities, which people were using this evening while the rest of the park was very sparsely populated.
Docklands, View Of Melbourne
Just a short distance from yesterdays Docklands Virtual Tour, we walk up a steep grassy knoll to discover a fantastic view from Melbourne City, through the Docklands Yarra’s Edge & Marina and out to the West Gate Bridge.
Docklands, Yarra’s Edge
Yarra’s Edge is a series of apartments & shops of the edge of the Yarra River, incorporating a 200 berth marina. Melbourne’s South Bank is only a short walk along the riverside boardwalk away.
Docklands, Webb Bridge II
The Webb Bridge was the result of an art competition seeking to transform a disused cargo link into an integrated artwork that also functioned as a pedestrian bridge. The sculptural form is an analogy to Koori fishing traps, drums, baskets & the gestural flow of the Yarra River below.
Docklands, Webb Bridge
From here on the Webb Bridge, we have a great view over the Yarra River, the Yarra’s Edge apartments & Marina. While on the other side of the bridge we can see Melbourne City. Tomorrow we’ll head further down into the sculptured end of the bridge.
Docklands, Blowhole
Blowhole, by Duncan Stemler, is a 15 metre (50ft) high wind powered sculpture with armature & cups interacting with each other to form patterns colours and shadows. The cups are arranged to pick up the wind in the way of an anemometer on the top of a yacht’s mast. Each cup/arm spins independently in either direction, and rotation speed is entirely dependent on the wind.
Melbourne, Docklands
After a short break we’re back. With Adelaide behind us we move on to the Melbourne Docklands district. This area starts on the western edge of Melbourne’s CBD. Just for something different, we’re going to do a short walk around the docklands over the next week or 2. We’ll start and finish here at the ‘Cow Up A Tree’. The Walk took about 2.5hrs but if you weren’t shooting Virtual Tours you would do it in less than an hour. This Virtual Tour sees us between the Telstra Dome & the Cow art I mentioned earlier.
Adelaide, King William St
King William St, Adelaide, at the western end of the famous Rundle Mall.
Adelaide, Black Swan
To see the black swan, LOOK DOWN when you are over the water The black swan is an Australian native bird found in the wetlands of southern Australia.
Adelaide, Bridge Over Torrens
From the Montefiore Rd bridge into Adelaide we get a good overview of the Riverside Precinct, and the Torrens River.
Adelaide, War Memorial
Unveiled on ANZAC day 1931, this memorial to those lost in the Great War (WWI) was wrought with much sorrow at the time. The imagery is powerful. On the North Terrace face, the Spirit of Duty calls young men and women in a prologue to war and sacrifice. On the other side, the passive epilogue sees the Spirit of womanhood with sad regrets bearing her sacrificed sons and lovers.
Adelaide, SA Museum
In 1834 the concept of a South Australian Museum was formulated in London. 20 yrs later South Australia was proclaimed a province leading to it’s own constitution & among other things an act to provide a museum. The 1st building of the museum was officially opened in January 1861.
Adelaide, Rundle Mall Sculpture
These stainless steel balls by Bert Flugelman were installed here in the Rundle mall in 1977. The balls are each 2.15m (7ft) in diameter and are known locally as the ‘Malls Balls’.
Adelaide, Glass Footbridge
The footbridge links the city’s historic railway station, a listed monument, to a newly-constructed Drama Theatre complex at Adelaide’s Festival Theatre. The Adelaide Festival Bridge is part of a dynamic urban streetscape project completed in 2004 to revitalize the Festival Center and promenade precinct. The bridge links two buildings that are very different architecturally, yet succeeds in retaining the identity of each of these buildings while also creating its own, by using laminated glass in a way not often seen in civic structures.
Adelaide, Public Art
In this part of Adelaide, near the Festival Centre, is a lot of arty stuff. Even the satellite view in google maps below looks arty with all the shapes & patterns. I don’t know the name of this one or what it’s about, but if you do…leave a comment below please
Adelaide, River Torrens
The River Torrens flows through Adelaide separating the City from North Adelaide. In this virtual tour we’re in Elder Park & the Riverside Precinct, where major events like ‘Tasting Australia‘ & the Christamas Carols are held each year, as well as other public events. For some interesting history of the river since european settlement check out the wikipedia entry. The paper boats floating on the river are a public art installation called ‘Talking Our Way Home’ and they’re actually made of glass.
Adelaide, Solar Trees
Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia with over 1.1 million inhabitants & the 5th largest city of Australia. Over the next 2 weeks we’ll be looking at just a tiny amount of the city. The northern part of the CBD (Central Business District) or ‘City’ to be precise. In this Adelaide Virtual Tour we see the Solar Trees project. (Don’t forget to look up) The audio is recorded live from the site & is a little hard to understand, sorry.
AGMF – Chill Out Tent
See this Virtual Tour in FullScreen High Definition mode. Opens In New Window + Audio FullScreen Virtual Tour [2.2MB] In our final AGMF virtual tour we see the chill out tent. When you’ve seen all the concerts, done the rides, made a fool of yourself at the colosseum and just can’t take much more, maybe it’s time to chill out here for a bit. See Full Size Google Map with all AGMF Virtual Tours – Click Here.INSERT_MAP AGMF & Band, Links, Websites – Click Here
AGMF – Red Frogs Colosseum
See this Virtual Tour in FullScreen High Definition mode. Opens In New Window + Audio FullScreen Virtual Tour [2.5MB] Here’s where the crowd interactive stuff is done. Whether it’s dancing or rapping or sumo wrestling or doing something stoopid, this is where it happens with an audience. This year the stadium is being expanded to seat 1500 people. AGMF & Band, Links, Websites – Click Here
AGMF – Central
See this Virtual Tour in FullScreen High Definition mode. Opens In New Window + Audio FullScreen Virtual Tour [2.2MB] This is the center of the festival. In this virtual tour we can see a few of the many tent stages & the foodcourt behind the trees. Since this is a ‘spiritual’ event, I’ve used my ‘ghosting’ lens to bring out the spirits 😉 See Full Size Google Map with all AGMF Virtual Tours – Click Here.INSERT_MAP AGMF & Band, Links, Websites – Click Here
AGMF – MainStage
See this Virtual Tour in FullScreen High Definition mode. Opens In New Window + Audio FullScreen Virtual Tour [2.2MB] MainStage at the Australian Gospel Music Festival, where it all happens. As many as 10,000 people cram into this natural amphitheater each night of AGMF for the ‘big’ acts. Playing at the moment is Robin Mark of the Irish group ‘Revival in Belfast’ Later the Newsboys a local (Aussie) band that are one of the largest acts in Christian rock worldwide perform, much to the delight of the crowd. AGMF & Band, Links, Websites – Click Here
AGMF – Sideshow Alley
See this Virtual Tour in FullScreen High Definition mode. Opens In New Window + Audio FullScreen Virtual Tour [2.0MB] Sideshow Alley, care for a ride anyone? See Full Size Google Map with all AGMF Virtual Tours – Click Here.INSERT_MAP AGMF & Band, Links, Websites – Click Here
AGMF – Sons Of Korah
See this Virtual Tour in FullScreen High Definition mode. Opens In New Window + Audio FullScreen Virtual Tour [2.5MB] We interrupt our regular viewing to show you an event rather than a place. AGMF – the Australian Gospel Music Festival is an annual event, running in Toowoomba each Easter. It begins in about 2 weeks which is why we’ve taken this opportunity to show a few virtual tours from last year. The Sons of Korah are playing in this virtual tour. Check out the High Definition version (linked above) to hear the audio as well. These guys play the golden oldies. No not your parents music, the 3000yr old Psalms of the bible. Beautiful music. (Excuse the poor audio, it’s recorded live when I’m shooting, then massively compressed for web delivery) See Full Size Google Map with all AGMF Virtual Tours – Click Here.INSERT_MAP AGMF & Band, Links, Websites – Click Here
Bicheno, Penguin Sanctuary
See this Virtual Tour in FullScreen High Definition mode. Opens In New Window + Audio FullScreen Virtual Tour [1.6MB] Bicheno, like all of Tasmania, is a beautiful place. A tiny seaside town, half way up the East Coast of Tassie, don’t miss this place on any trip to Tasmania. This is the last Bicheno Virtual Tour for now, and in this tour we are once again on Diamond Island, the penguin sanctuary. See Full Size Google Map with all Bicheno Virtual Tours – Click Here.INSERT_MAP Bicheno Reviews, Links, Websites – Click Here
Bicheno, Rocky Headlands
See this Virtual Tour in FullScreen High Definition mode. Opens In New Window + Audio FullScreen Virtual Tour [2.0MB] The Bicheno Headland provides a good overview of the area. The virtual tour shows from Diamond island in the west around to the Bicheno township. Bicheno Reviews, Links, Websites – Click Here
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