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52-402: The Aspen Movie Map enabled the user to take a virtual tour through the city of Aspen, Colorado (that is, a form of surrogate travel). It is an early example of a hypermedia system. A gyroscopic stabilizer with four 16mm stop-frame film cameras was mounted on top of a car with an encoder that triggered the cameras every ten feet. The distance was measured from an optical sensor attached to

104-670: A 32 bit interface to the Interdata for this purpose. Ramtek supplied image display systems which supplied square displays (256x256 or 512x512) as its competition did but also screen matches such as 320x240, 640x512 and 1280x1024. The original GE CAT Scanners all used the Ramtek 320x240 display. Some prices of the day may be of interest. A keyboard, joystick or trackball would each sell for around $ 1,200. A 19" CRT had an OEM price of around $ 5,000 and this would be purchased from Igagami in Japan. The production of

156-651: A digital SLR camera, and specialized software. Real estate virtual tours are typically linked to the listing in the Multiple Listing Service. 3D virtual tour technology has been increasingly used in the documentation and preservation of historic properties that are at risk of being razed or undergoing restricted public access. 3D virtual models using standard file formats, such as the Object file (.obj) format, can be stored in digital archives for future academic research and exploration. Virtual tours are also popular in

208-405: A location. Unlike the virtual tour's static wrap -around feel, a video tour is a linear walk-through of a location. Using a video camera, the location is filmed at a walking pace while moving continuously from one point to another throughout the subject location. 3D virtual tours can be created using 3D reconstruction . The origin of the term 'virtual tour' dates to 1994. The first example of

260-488: A master's degree in architecture from MIT in 1966. Despite his accomplished academic career, Negroponte has spoken publicly about his dyslexia and his difficulty in reading. Negroponte later joined the faculty of MIT in 1966. For several years thereafter he divided his teaching time between MIT and several visiting professorships at Yale , Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley . He also during 1966, had

312-436: A monthly column to the magazine in which he reiterated a basic theme: "Move bits, not atoms." Negroponte expanded many of the ideas from his Wired columns into a bestselling book Being Digital (1995), which made famous his forecasts on how the interactive world, the entertainment world and the information world would eventually merge. Being Digital was a bestseller and was translated into some forty languages. Negroponte

364-454: A role with IBM which could potentially provide funding for research to find means of using computers to help architects , planners and designers . He attended Avery Johnson's lab and seminars at the MIT Sloan school . He eventually met Warren Brodey, who Negroponte described as being “one of the earliest and most important influences”. According to Evgeny Morozov , it was through Brodey that

416-526: A single CD master (around 13") was $ 300,000. ARPA funding during the late 1970s was subject to the military application requirements of the Mansfield Amendment introduced by Mike Mansfield (which had severely limited funding for hypertext researchers like Douglas Engelbart ). The Aspen Movie Map's military application was to solve the problem of quickly familiarizing soldiers with new territory. The Department of Defense had been deeply impressed by

468-427: A two-year increase of 18 million. Virtual tours are very popular in the real estate industry. Several types of such tours exist, including simple options such as interactive floor plans, and more sophisticated options such as full-service virtual tours. An interactive floor plan shows photographs of a property with the aid of a floor plan and arrows to indicate where each photograph was taken. Clicking on arrows shows

520-578: A variety of materials such as that obtained from videos, texts, and still pictures in an interactive web content. There are many ways to gather data in a mixed web content, such as using rich content builders or a Web content management system . A study done by the PEW Research Group showed that more than 5 million Americans watched virtual tours every day in 2004. PEW's research data, which showed that Americans watching virtual tours rose from 54 million people in 2004 to 72 million people by August 2006,

572-556: A virtual tour was a museum visitor interpretive tour, consisting of 'walk-through' of a 3D reconstruction of Dudley Castle in England as it was in 1550. This consisted of a computer-controlled laser disc based system designed by British-based engineer Colin Johnson. One of the first users of a virtual tour was Queen Elizabeth II , when she officially opened the visitor center in June 1994. Because

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624-490: Is a Greek American architect. He is the founder and chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology 's Media Lab , and also founded the One Laptop per Child Association (OLPC). Negroponte is the author of the 1995 book Being Digital translated into more than forty languages. Negroponte was born to Dimitrios Negropontis ( Greek : Νεγροπόντης ), a Greek shipping magnate, competitive alpine skier and member of

676-549: Is a digital optimist who believed that computers would make life better for everyone. However, critics such as Cass Sunstein have criticised his techno-utopian ideas for failing to consider the historical, political and cultural realities with which new technologies should be viewed. In the 1980s Negroponte predicted that wired technologies such as telephones would become unwired by using airwaves instead of wires or fiber optics, and that unwired technologies such as televisions would become wired—a prediction commonly referred to as

728-457: Is a simulation of an existing location, usually composed of a sequence of videos, still images or 360-degree images. It may also use other multimedia elements such as sound effects, music, narration, text and floor map. The phrase "virtual tour" is often used to describe a variety of videos and photographic-based media. Panorama indicates an unbroken view, since a panorama can be either a series of photographs or panning video footage . However,

780-451: Is an angel investor and has invested in over 30 startup companies over the last 30 years, including Zagats , Wired , Ambient Devices , Skype and Velti . He has sat on several boards, including Motorola and Velti . He is also on the advisory board of TTI/Vanguard . In August 2007, he was appointed to a five-member special committee with the objective of assuring the continued journalistic and editorial integrity and independence of

832-478: Is perhaps more accurate to describe it as a pioneering example of interactive computing . Video, audio, still images and metadata were retrieved from a database and assembled on the fly by the computer (an Interdata minicomputer running the MagicSix operating system) redirecting its actions based upon user input; video was the principal, but not sole affordance of the interaction. Virtual tour A virtual tour

884-487: Is that the point of view is constantly changing throughout a pan. However, capturing high-quality video requires significantly more technical skill and equipment than taking digital still pictures. Video also eliminates viewer control of the tour. Therefore, the tour is the same for all viewers and subject is chosen by the videographer . Editing digital video requires proficiency with video editing software and has higher computer hardware requirements. Also, displaying video over

936-601: The MIT Media Lab with Jerome B. Wiesner . As director, he developed the lab into a laboratory for new media and a high-tech playground for investigating the human–computer interface. Negroponte also became a proponent of intelligent agents and personalized electronic newspapers , for which he popularized the term the Daily Me . In 1992, Negroponte was the first investor in Wired Magazine . From 1993 to 1998, he contributed

988-1216: The Negroponte family. He grew up in New York City's Upper East Side . He has three brothers. His elder one, John Negroponte , is the former United States Deputy Secretary of State . Michel Negroponte is an Emmy Award -winning filmmaker. George Negroponte is an artist and was President of the Drawing Center from 2002 to 2007. He attended Buckley School in New York, Fay School in Massachusetts, Le Rosey in Switzerland, and The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut , from which he graduated in 1961. Subsequently, he studied at MIT as both an undergraduate and graduate student in Architecture where his research focused on issues of computer-aided design . Yona Friedman recalls having met Negroponte in 1964 when he

1040-556: The Negroponte switch . In 2000, Negroponte stepped down as director of the Media Lab as Walter Bender took over as executive director. However, Negroponte retained the role of laboratory chairman. When Frank Moss was appointed director of the lab in 2006, Negroponte stepped down as lab chairman to focus more fully on his work with One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) although he retains his appointment as professor at MIT (Professor Post-Tenure of Media Arts and Sciences). In November 2005, at

1092-647: The Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones & Company publications and services. The committee was formed as part of the merger of Dow Jones with News Corporation . Negroponte's fellow founding committee members are Louis Boccardi , Thomas Bray , Jack Fuller , and the late former Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn . In response to the controversy of the MIT Media Lab accepting funding from Jeffrey Epstein five years after Epstein's conviction for sex trafficking minors, Negroponte told MIT staff, "If you wind back

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1144-612: The World Summit on the Information Society held in Tunis , Negroponte unveiled the concept of a $ 100 laptop computer, The Children's Machine , designed for students in the developing world. The price has increased to US$ 180, however. The project was a part of a broader program by One Laptop Per Child, a nonprofit organization started by Negroponte and other Media Lab faculty to extend Internet access in developing countries. Negroponte

1196-400: The hospitality industry . Hotels are increasingly offering online tours on their websites, ranging from "360" stitched photos to professionally produced video tours. These tours are typically offered by hotels in an effort to increase booking revenue by providing online viewers with an immersive view of the property and its amenities. Virtual walk videos are documentary motion pictures shot as

1248-546: The Queen's officials had requested titles, descriptions and instructions of all activities, the system was named and described as: "Virtual Tour, being a cross between Virtual Reality and Royal Tour." Virtual tours can be captured using omnidirectional cameras and/or with image stitching . With the expansion of video on the internet, video-based virtual tours are growing in popularity. Video cameras are used to pan and walk-through real subject properties. The benefit of this method

1300-421: The analog-video precursor to modern digital optical disc storage technologies such as DVDs . A database was made that correlated the layout of the video on the disc with the two-dimensional street plan. Thus linked, the user was able to choose an arbitrary path through the city; the only restrictions being the necessity to stay in the center of the street; move ten feet between steps; and view the street from one of

1352-412: The area. Virtual walks appeal to those who want to experience the sights and sounds of particular places in the country or the world, but who may not have the time or the financial or physical resources to actually travel there. They also appeal to treadmill or elliptical trainer users, for whom walking or running while watching these videos enhances the reality of the experience (and, at a minimum, reduce

1404-669: The boredom of the exercise). Some feature-length narrative motion pictures have made use of the virtual walk technique for dramatic purposes. These include the opening sequences of Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil and Robert Altman's The Player , the famous tracking shot through the Copacabana in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas , Alexander Sokurov's Russian Ark (which consists of a single 96-minute Steadicam take), and, more recently Alfonso Cuarón's long tracking shots in Gravity , and almost

1456-436: The camera continuously moves forward through an urban or natural area. The effect is to allow viewers to experience the sights they would see and the sounds they would hear were they actually traveling along a particular route at the same pace as the camera. Virtual walks based on real-world photography typically do not require the use of virtual reality goggles or headsets of the kind used by gamers. In realistically simulating

1508-413: The cost of travel to numerous locations. For these applications, 3DVT can be designed and constructed from 3D interactive mapping technologies, such as Google Earth or Virtual Earth or X3D Earth. Virtual tours allow tourists to explore destinations before they visit, and some flexible tours allow visitors to book accommodations. Nicholas Negroponte Nicholas Negroponte (born December 1, 1943)

1560-451: The database and controlled the laserdisc players. Another interface feature was the ability to touch any building in the current field of view, and, in a manner similar to the ISMAP feature of web browsers, jump to a façade of that building. Selected buildings contained additional data: e.g., interior shots, historical images, menus of restaurants, video interviews of city officials, etc., allowing

1612-409: The entire narrative structure of Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárrito's Birdman . 3D virtual tourism is the realistic 3D geo-visualisation of virtual environments , which allows the user to explore physical places without physical travel. 3DVT typically creates a virtual tour that uses 3D models and 2D panoramic images , a sequence of hyperlinked still or video images, and image-based models of

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1664-469: The experience of moving through space, virtual walks—or virtual runs or bicycle rides—differ from conventional travel videos, which typically consist of a sequence of mostly static camera setups along a particular route or within a given area. The advantage of the conventional travel video is that one or more narrators or on-screen guides can provide insights into the geographical, historical, political, military, cultural, geological, or architectural aspects of

1716-414: The four orthogonal views. The interaction was controlled through a dynamically generated menu overlaid on top of the video image: speed and viewing angle were modified by the selection of the appropriate icon through a touch-screen interface, harbinger of the ubiquitous interactive-video kiosk. Commands were sent from the client process handling the user input and overlay graphics to a server that accessed

1768-552: The hub of a bicycle wheel dragged behind the vehicle. The cameras were mounted in order to capture front, back, and side views as the car made its way through the city. Filming took place daily between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to minimize lighting discrepancies. The car was carefully driven down the center of every street in Aspen to enable registered match cuts . The film was assembled into a collection of discontinuous scenes (one segment per view per city block) and then transferred to laserdisc ,

1820-503: The ideas of "soft architectures" and "intelligent environments" became established in Negroponte's thinking. In 1967, Negroponte founded MIT 's Architecture Machine Group, a combination lab and think tank which studied new approaches to human–computer interaction . The Architecture Machine Group was primarily concerned in addressing the potential of computers in architecture. Negroponte argued during this period that computer aided design

1872-469: The internet requires more bandwidth . Due to these difficulties, the task of creating video-based tours is often left to professionals. Virtual tours are used extensively for universities, sport venues, real estate and hospitality industries, among other things. Virtual tours can allow a user to view an environment without needing to be present physically. Currently, a variety of industries use such technology to help market their services and product. Over

1924-489: The laserdisc, were also correlated to the video, enabling the user to view an abstract rendering of the city in real time. MIT undergraduate Peter Clay , with help from Bob Mohl and Michael Naimark , filmed the hallways of MIT with a camera mounted on a cart. The film was transferred to a laserdisc as part of a collection of projects being done at the Architecture Machine Group (ArcMac). The Aspen Movie Map

1976-465: The last few years, the quality and accessibility of virtual tours have improved considerably, with some websites allowing the user to navigate the tours by clicking on maps or integrated floor plans. For most business purposes, a virtual tour must be accessible from everywhere. The major solution is a web-based virtual tour. In addition, a rich and useful virtual tour is not just a series of panoramic pictures. A better experience can be obtained by viewing

2028-618: The map overlay system and ran user studies of the efficacy of the system for his PhD thesis; Richard Leacock (Ricky), who headed the MIT Film/Video section and shot along with MS student Marek Zalewski the Cinéma vérité interviews placed behind the facades of key buildings; John Borden , of Peace River Films in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who designed the stabilization rig; Kristina Hooper Woolsey of UCSC; Rebecca Allen ; Scott Fisher , who matched

2080-458: The metadata encoder/decoder; Paul Heckbert worked on the animation system; Mark Shirley and Paul Trevithick , who also worked on the animation; Ken Carson ; Howard Eglowstein ; and Michael Naimark , who was at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies and was responsible for the cinematography design and production. The Ramtek 9000 series image display system was used for this project. Ramtek created

2132-480: The photos of Aspen in the silver-mining days from the historical society to the same scenes in Aspen in 1978 and who experimented with anamorphic imaging of the city (using a Volpe lens ); Walter Bender , who designed and built the interface, the client/server model, and the animation system; Steve Gregory; Stan Sasaki , who built much of the electronics; Steve Yelick , who worked on the laserdisc interface and anamorphic rendering; Eric "Smokehouse" Brown , who built

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2184-402: The phrases "panoramic tour" and "virtual tour" have mostly been associated with virtual tours created using still cameras . Such virtual tours are made up of a number of shots taken from a single vantage point . The camera and lens are rotated around what is known as a no parallax point (the exact point at the back of the lens where the light converges). A video tour is a full motion video of

2236-494: The real world, with additional elements such as sound effects , music, narration, and text. As opposed to actual tourism , 3DVT is accessed on a smartphone or computer (typically over the Internet). It aims to evoke an experience of moving through the real place without actual travel. Virtual tours can be especially useful for universities and real-estate operators who want to attract students, tenants, and buyers, while eliminating

2288-523: The research from the lab were composed into two books: The Architecture Machine: Towards a More Human Environment (1973), and Soft Architecture Machines (1976). Participants in the group included the cybernetician Gordon Pask , who visited Negroponte as a consultant and whose article "Aspects of Machine Intelligence" became the introduction to the section on machine intelligence in Soft Architecture Machines . In 1985, Negroponte created

2340-582: The success of Operation Entebbe in 1976, where the Israeli commandos had quickly built a crude replica of the airport and practiced in it before attacking the real thing. DOD hoped that the Movie Map would show the way to a future where computers could instantly create a three-dimensional simulation of a hostile environment at much lower cost and in less time (see virtual reality ). While the Movie Map has been referred to as an early example of interactive video , it

2392-415: The user to take a virtual tour through those buildings. In a later implementation, the metadata , which was in large part automatically extracted from the animation database, was encoded as a digital signal in the analog video. The data encoded in each frame contained all the necessary information to enable a full-featured surrogate-travel experience. Another feature of the system was a navigation map that

2444-410: The user where the camera was and which way the camera was pointing. Full service virtual tours are usually created by a professional photographer who will visit the property being sold, take several photos, and run them through stitching software. Full service virtual tours are usually more expensive than interactive floor plans because of the expense of the photographer, higher-end equipment used, such as

2496-500: Was filmed in early fall and winter. The user was able to in situ change seasons on demand while moving down the street or looking at a façade. A three-dimensional polygonal model of the city was also generated, using the Quick and Dirty Animation System ( QADAS ), which featured three-dimensional texture-mapping of the facades of landmark buildings, using an algorithm designed by Paul Heckbert . These computer-graphic images, also stored on

2548-604: Was filmed in the fall of 1978, in winter 1979 and briefly again (with an active gyro stabilizer) in the fall of 1979. The first version was operational in early spring of 1979. Many people were involved in the production, most notably: Nicholas Negroponte , founder and director of the Architecture Machine Group, who found support for the project from the Cybernetics Technology Office of DARPA; Andrew Lippman, principal investigator; Bob Mohl, who designed

2600-403: Was only making activities such as architecture "faster", and that the underlying spirit of the architectural machine group would be to explore the various possibilities for generating collaborating machines for architectural design. The group took funding from DARPA and other parts of The Pentagon to explore early research in human-computer interaction and virtual reality . The contents of

2652-569: Was overlaid above the horizon in the top of the frame; the map both served to indicate the user's current position in the city (as well as a trace of streets previously explored) and to allow the user to jump to a two-dimensional city map, which allowed for an alternative way of moving through the city. Additional features of the map interface included the ability to jump back and forth between correlated aerial photographic and cartoon renderings with routes and landmarks highlighted; and to zoom in and out à la Charles Eames 's Powers of Ten film. Aspen

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2704-532: Was still a student at MIT, where he had discussed with Friedman his idea for an "Architecture Machine". The architecture machine is considered by Negroponte to be a machine collaborator, who engages in an ongoing architectural design process with a human peer. Both machine and human participants engage in a process of mutual training and growth with each other, in order to harness the interactive potential found in peer-to-peer collaborations during an architectural design process with man and machine instead. He earned

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