A VR-Photography Event

The World Wide Panorama began in March, 2004, and has now become a quarterly series of events. Photographers all over the world are welcome to participate.

The rules are simple - photography must be done during a specified time, and the final panorama must be in QuickTime VR format (within specified limits on file size and dimensions). The events are scheduled on the solstices (longest and shortest days of the year) and equinoxes (day and night of equal length).

Marketplace
In the days leading up to the Equinox (which falls on March 20 for most parts of the world) photographers everywhere were invited to participate in another World Wide Panorama event. The theme for this event was Marketplace.

Sanctuary
In the days leading up to the Solstice, December 17-21, 2004, 197 photographers in 38 countries created VR panoramas on the theme "Sanctuary".

Bridges
The week of the Equinox, September 18-22, 2004, photographers around the world created VR panoramas on the theme "Bridges". The site they produced features 186 panoramas, plus interactive maps for navigation.

World Heritage
On the Solstice weekend, June 19-21, 2004, more than 110 photographers in 32 countries around the world created VR panoramas with the common theme of world heritage, in particular UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Original WWP
On March 20, 2004, 180 photographers from 40 countries around the world celebrated the Equinox by creating VR panoramas.

Meet the photographers

What Are VR Panoramas ?

A VR panorama (VR for virtual reality) is a specially created computer image that goes all the way around the viewer. It is a revolutionary way to document a particular place and time – the next best thing to being there.

VR panoramas are interactive. Use the mouse to rotate the panorama, use Shift and Control to zoom in and out. Some VR panoramas are cylinders, 360° around but with limited vertical view. Others are cubic (or spherical), with a view that can go straight up and straight down, as well as all the way around. There are also VR objects, where the viewer circles around an object of interest.

To view the panoramas on this site you will need QuickTime. If QuickTime is not already installed on your computer you can obtain it (free, versions for both Windows and Macintosh) from Apple Computer.

If you interested in the World Wide Panorama please join our group and get on the mailing list. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wwp/ and sign up. You don't need to be registered to participate, but it is a good way to keep up with what's going on.

Coming Events in 2005:

June 17-20 – on the Solstice - "Water"

September 21-25 — Equinox

December — Best of the Year

The World Wide Panorama has been awarded the Yahoo! Search (UK & Ireland) Find of the Year 2004, in the Travel Category.

Who Is Behind This?

TheWorld Wide Panorama is sponsored by the Geography Computing Facility at the University of California Berkeley. The site is hosted by The Geo-Images Project. This is a non-commercial project, done simply to create enthusiasm for VR photography, and provide an outlet for our collective creativity.

All images are copyright by the individual photographers. Use in any way other than viewing on this web site is prohibited unless permission is obtained from the relevant photographer. The overall site is copyright by the Regents of the University of California.

The World Wide Panorama events and web sites have been organized and created by Don Bain and Landis Bennett, graphics by Kat Kalamaras, interactive maps by Markus Altendorff.

G. Donald Bain ( ) [picture]
In real life I manage the Geography Computing Facility at the University of California Berkeley, where I also teach cartography and field studies. The rest of the time I travel and take panoramas for my web site: Don Bain's Virtual Guidebooks. This project (my wife refers to it as my obsession) has taken me from Tahiti to the Arctic, from the prehistoric ruins of the Southwest to the glaciers of the Canadian Rockies. As a compulsive educator it has been a real treat, documenting and sharing my landscapes with the world. I have taken over 4000 panoramas, with about 3500 currently on the site (http://VirtualGuidebooks.com).

Landis Bennett ( ) [picture]
I met Don when I attended the University of California Berkeley as a geography major. Fortuitously I started there at just about the same time QTVR reared it's head. Don was just learning all about it and because we both share a great love of travel and photography he introduced me to his new enthusiasm. I took it from there and did a bit of my own traveling. I have about 1000 panoramas from all over North America on my website and many, many more that have yet to be put on the web - if only for a little more time. When not making panoramas of my travels, I'm making maps both self-published and for hire. My site can be found at http://www.360Geographics.com.

Kat Kalamaras ( )
Kat created the logos and original maps for this web site. She is a professional cartographer with Avalon Travel Publishing. Another graduate of the geography department at U.C. Berkeley, she has been on panographic expeditions north past the Arctic Circle and south of the Tropic of Cancer.

Markus Altendorff ( )
I'm into panoramic photography as a hobby since 1997, and also took part as a contributor in some of the early Wrinkle in Time events. My involvement with the WWP was more of a lucky accident, caused by an email from Landis Bennett after I presented a pretty rough draft of a clickable world map for the 9/04 event to our WWP Yahoo Group. I don't travel nearly as much or as far as the other organizers, so my website http://www.panoramas.de/ is more of a document of my hometown changing over time.
Markus created the striking new world and detail maps for the 9/04 event.

Go to The Geo-Images Project home page