Businesses use virtual tours because it increases sales volume and probability. It is a very effective marketing tool for a variety of reasons- in part because it increases the chances that a consumer will find your business online, and in part because of the psychological effects it has on viewers. More on this below!

There are two primary types of businesses that gain the most from getting a virtual tour: brick and mortar businesses, and real estate businesses.

Step 1: Photography

Find a photographer. The best practice is to find a Google Street View Trusted photographer- somebody that has uploaded more than 50 Street View photos meeting Google's quality standards. This is simply an acknowledgement from Google that a photographer has demonstrated basic 360° photography competence.

Street View Trusted photographers are not employees of Google.

To be clear, anyone is allowed to post pictures, 360° or otherwise, to Google. Furthermore, even cellphones are capable of taking 360° pictures, they just won't be professional quality.

Depending on the complexity of the project and the number of photos taken, the photography session can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, the average photoshoot is under 1 hour. Then, depending on the next steps and the desired degree of photo editing, a business can expect their photos/virtual tours to be up within 2-9 days, the average time needed is 3-5 days.

This is normally the only step that the business sees, the next steps are what happen behind the scenes.

Step 2: Stitching

Computers like image files that have two dimensions, X by Y. So, the previous pictures need to be squished together to form a rectangular image which contains all the pixels from the original photos. They are combined, or 'stitched', into an equirectangular image.

The images are warped in such a way that they appear 'unwarped' when made spherical. The stitching process can occur within the camera at the moment the photo is taken, or at a later date on computer with special software. Stitching on a computer will provide more control and likely yield better results.

Step 3: EXIF Data

This step is the most common stumbling block for the inexperienced . Digital images have something called EXIF data. This data contains all the information about the image such as where and when it was taken, what its format is, and how a program should handle it. An image will not display properly if the EXIF data is false or incomplete. EXIF Data is generally added to photo files automatically, but sometimes it gets removed, this depends entirely on the programs being used. Nothing that can't be fixed.

How to fix EXIF data for a 360° photo:

1. Open ExifToolGui
2. Load GPano into the workspace definition file
3. Select the pictures that need fixing (in the middle window)
4. Type "equirectangular" in Projection Type, press Enter
5. Type "True" in Use Panoramic Viewer, press Enter
6. Click Save

NOTE: Remove any dashes before "equirectangular" and "True", otherwise Facebook won't recognize the image as 360°

When a photo has the right set of digital attributes within the EXIF data, the equirectangular image will be painted onto the inside of a digital sphere. The warping from Step 1 ensures that when placed in the sphere, the proportions will match reality. The viewer then sees the image from inside the sphere, and can click and drag the mouse to look around.

Step 4: Tour Creation

Various photo spheres can be linked together to simulate travelling through a scene. For this step you will need special software intended for virtual tour creation. The two most general software options are the Google platform, or a third party tour creation program (the next section will help you choose a specific program). Overall, this is relatively straight forward, and will just require some tinkering.

The challenge is to get all the images located correctly relative to each other. If the photos have GPS EXIF data, some of the work is already done for you! But let's say you don't, or it's not precise enough. The quickest way to position your images is to use triangulation.

How to position images in a virtual tour without GPS data:

1. Connect three images
2. Check and correct the location of image #3 from the perspective of images #1 and #2
3. Repeat for the other images
4. Repeat process to fine tune locations
5. Use the locations of images #1, #2, and #3 to place remaining images

NOTE: If your are placing the images on a map, one or more images may be near a visible landmark. Starting with these images in your triangulation group will make the process much easier.

Step 5: Uploading

Host the tour online. This step will be different based on which program you are using, consult their instructions. Luckily, it's mostly drag and drop now-a-days.

Note: If your are using Google to host the tour, you will upload the images prior to creating the tour.