Gamla Stan, Stockholm (Mini VR Tour)

 

Riches of Old Alvdal Church: Online Exhibition

 

Taken to try out recording equipment, we were so pleased with the results that we decided to share them on our website.

 

This is just a mini tour that starts at Katarinahissen, the lift from Södermalm down to Gamla Stan, Stockholm's Old Town.

 

Taken around the Royal Palace, the tour includes some of the more interesting streets and squares of this, the Paris of the North. The tour includes:

 

• Directional sound, recorded on location
• Thumbnail navigation with animated maps
• First-class HDR imagery

We are pleased to announce our new large-format service, providing detailed imagery that allows the viewer to zoom in to a field of view of just one half of a degree - the equivalent of just a few millimeters' distance from the object.

 

Ideal for insurance and reference purposes, this stunning panoramic techique is perfect for galleries wanting to show works for sale, connoisseurs cataloguing or insuring their collection, art historians and restorers requiring a detailed record of work.

 

Made internet ready with a multi-resolution output, or provided just as an attractively-packaged presentation CD, large-format and gigapixel imagery has the potential to render images in more detail than ever imagined.

Oddentunet, Nord-Østerdal Museet, Norway

 

Tylldal church - The Sanctuary Ceiling

 

Abandoned in the 1970s complete with all its contents, this rich farmhouse contains the riches of its 200-year history. Now open as a part of the Nord-Østerdal museum service, we were pleased to be asked to provide this high-resolution virtual tour of its grounds and rooms. All images:

 

• are shot in HDR format, with an integral Flash navigation
• have a Graphic User Interface that detects your monitor's size and adjusts accordingly
• contains animated help files
• contain fade transitions between images
• are accompanied by a commentary

The stunning ceiling of the sanctuary at the little log-built church at Tylldalen, tucked away in the Østerdalen valleys, has been captured in large-scale format for the first time.

 

Once an important stopping-point for pligrims, the church's lavish decoration of the 1730s managed to survive the Puritan destruction of the 19th-century. In particular, the ceiling, complete with the king's monogram was protected with a false ceiling. On its restoration in the 1930s, the monogram was once again revealled in all its glory.

Christianus Sextus Gruve, Norway

 

Røros in 1,000,000 pixels

 

An abandoned copper mine, part of a UNESCO World Heritage area, this eight-shot HDR tour captures the essence of what was, originally, a productive mine that worked for over 220 years until its closure in 1945.

 

This unique series of images protrays this haunting scene with not just a sense of history, but also fine art.

Taken for a new web project with which we are involved, this stunning outlook on the UNESCO World Heritage city of Røros allows the user to zoom in closely to see many aspects of this fascinating industrial town.

 

Made from 4500 separate tiles, multi-resolution technology allows the user to zoom in to a filed of view of just 4 degrees. If printed, this image would measure a staggering 15,5 x 2,5 metres!

Orkelbogen Friluftssenter (Full VR Tour)

 

Kvikne Church - the altar

 

Some test images taken around Orkelbogen Friluftssenter (Fresh Air Activity Centre), built in 2008 in the style of Norwegian 18th-century architecture. For now, just six images shot in the late Norwegian autumn, taken as part of a larger tour (we are that busy!), the images:

 

• are shot in HDR format, with a thumbnail navigation
• contain fade and zoom transitions between images
• are accompanied by a musical soundtrack
• is designed to match the site's style

 

Also incorporated into the tour is streaming video promotional material.

 

Tour in Norwegian only

Our largest image to date, published using Zoomify technology, this flat panorama is built on a ratio of 2:1 - its 8x6,5m size approximately twice the size of the original.

 

Consisting of 158 different shots, each painstakingly stitched to produce a unique record of this stunning and largely-untouched carving, the image allows such a close zoom that individual strokes and chisel marks can be seen and studied in detail.

Bryggen i Bergen (Full VR Tour)

 

Altarpiece - Folldal Church, Norway

 

This virtual tour of Bryggen ("The Wharf") portrays some of the areas oldest wooden buildings, a quarter that dates back to the 18th century.

 

Shot in HDR, the tour consists of:

• Nine 360x180-degree images linked with thumbnail navigation
• Transition effects between scenes
• Animated help files
• Appropriate musical soundtrack

A 24-shot tour within a single image!! Our largest image to date of the magnificent baroque reredos in the church at the village of Folldal in Hedmark, Norway.

 

Built in 1678, this example of baroque fantasy is laden with figures and images typical of many alterpieces in this area of Norway.

 

A single gigapixel panorama, made up from 108 individual photos to form a mosaic, the image allows the viewer to zoom closely to see details. Thumnail navigation allows you to move to points of interest within the image.

Aukrust Centre, Nord-Østerdal, Norway

 

Uppsala Cathedral, Sweden

 

A 14-image presentation of the Aukrustsenter in Alvdal, Norway, which houses a permanent exhibition of the works of the town's favourite son, the humourist, author and artist Kjell Aukrust.

 

Features:

 

• Shot in HDR,
• Has a suitable and interactive GUI, prepared to reflect the style of the author,
• Includes video footage in the Flåklypasalen (cinema)
• Includes a controllable Mp3 player and suitable accompanying music

Sweden's famous Uppsala Cathedral, resting place of its patron saint and seat of an ancient Archbishopric that dates back to Viking times, this beaautiful virtual tour allows the visitor to contemplate the beauty of the building's gothic architecture. The images:

 

• are shot in HDR format, with an integral Flash navigation
• contain fade transitions between images
• are accompanied by a musical soundtrack

Røros Museum and mines (Full VR Tour)

 

Lysgaard Pottery

 

A part of the Unesco World Heritage area in Norway's Sør-Trøndelag, Røros and Olavsgruva attest to the once-thriving industry of copper mining in mid-Norway. The tour centres on the historic Malmplass in Røros and the nearby mines of Storwartz and Olavsgruva, which was worked for over 300 years before closing down in the 1970s.

 

HDR, the tour consists of four separate mini-tours based in (and under) the region.

 

thirty 360x180-degree images linked together with -

a choice of two languages for both the GUI and information panels

a multi-level menu-based navigation,

appropriately-chosen music,

website integration makes it compatible with Røros Museum's website

Per Lysgaard's gallery is a popular stopping-place for visitors to the town of Røros in Norway. This four-shot tour begins in the yard entrance to the his gallery and workshop, where the mind boggles at his fantasy and skill, and continues through the three rooms that comprise his premises. The images:

 

• are shot in HDR format, with an integral Flash navigation
• have a Graphic User Interface that detects your monitor's size and adjusts accordingly
• are provided in multi-resolution format, allowing for closer zoom and better definition on larger monitors - IDEAL for galleries
• contain fade transitions between images
• are accompanied by a musical soundtrack

 Savalen Fjellhotell (Full VR Tour)

 

Håbo församling, Sweden

 

 A complete virtual tour for Savalen Fjellhotell and health spa, tucked away in the mountains of eastern Norway. We were asked to cover nearly every aspect of this resort, including its suites, self-contained flats, swimming pools and some visually stunning mountain shots – not for the fainthearted (or the photographer for that matter). The tour can also be seen at the hotel's website.

Shot in HDR, the tour consists of:

• 20 360x180-degree images
• a unique navigation system
• an appropriate musical soundtrack.
• integrated in-tour video
• animated help files

A multi-tour presentation for the Sweden's Håbo Church website of their six ancient churches, which includes the last resting place of an 18th-century duke (pictured above). taken from a vantage point that few ever get to see.

 

All 24 images are processed using HDR photography. Such large-scale tours as these present many problems for the programmer to present material in an easy-to-use and appealing manner. We think that, through our Flash-animated Graphic User Interface, we have managed to address this problem in a unique and refreshing manner.