Take a look at our Battle of Britain bunker accessibility virtual tours. The Battle of Britain Bunker was home to Fighter Command (RAF Uxbridge) in World War II. It was the control centre for air operations during the D-Day landings.
The Battle of Britain Bunker
The momentous decisions about which air squadrons to scramble to defeat the Luftwaffe were made here at the Bunker. Winston Churchill visited on several occasions. It was here in 1940 he was first moved to speak the words: “Never in the history of mankind has so much been owed by so many to so few”. The Bunker is 60 feet (18 metres) underground, and was suceesfully kept secret from the Nazis during the second world war. Its success as a secret command centre unfortunately makes it inaccessible to many people who would love to see it.
Accessibility Virtual Tours – Making Inaccessible Spaces Available for All
The Bunker’s setting is deep underground, and only accessible by the 76 stairs. Thus the elderly or infirm, the disabled or claustrophobic could all be unable to visit. The solution was a high resolution 360 virtual tour. This tour can be viewed by visitors to The Battle of Britain Bunker Exhibition and Visitor Centre.
We are delighted that our photography will open the Battle of Britain Bunker’s doors to people who would otherwise never be able to see inside. Please click the ‘Launch Project’ button above to be taken to the tour.
To enquire about how we can help you meet your accessibility goals, please do get in touch.
On the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, the gloriously named Old Harry Rocks are a dramatic trio of rocks (more properly known as stacks). Here you can explore the views from above in these aerial 360 views.
To dive straight in to this law firm virtual tour, please click the ‘View 360 Virtual Tour’ button.
We were delighted to be commissioned by Mayer Brown, one of the world’s biggest law firms, to create a virtual tour.
Having recently created a new client services suite at their London offices, Mayer Brown wanted to showcase the attractive and highly functional contemporary surroundings clients can expect when they visit the offices.
The 360 Tour
The tour encompasses the reception area, showing online visitors where they will be met. Moving through the 360 tour, you can visit the restaurant, and see the meeting pods within the restaurant space. The pods offer the opportunity for private meetings within the bright and open restaurant space. The meeting room is set-up for a meeting, and the huge windows overlook the throng of Bishopsgate. The showpiece of this law firm virtual tour is the conference space. We have created this so users can see the space empty, with the door panels all open. At the click of a button, the user can change the room configuration to see it set up as for an event.
Architectural Interior Stills Photography
On many projects, it suits clients to have a variety of stills in addition to the 360 virtial tour. On the day of the 360 shoot, we also shot a wide selection of high-resolution stills photos for Mayer Brown to use in their marketing communications.
Get In Touch
We hope you enjoy exploring our high resolution 360 tours. Please note that for reasons of client confidentiality, not all of our work is displayed on our website. If you’re interested in a particular industry which you can’t find in our portfolio, please get in touch with us. It’s likely we’ll have worked in this area but it may not be displayed. You can get in touch via the contact form. Alternatively, please feel free to call us on 020 360 30231 if you’d like to have an informal chat about your project.
In a world that’s moving from print to digital we create engaging content that helps drive sales. A traditional printed commercial property brochure has its place in the mix, but is now simply an expected element. To create stand-out, digital content that adds value and vitality is key.
New Street Square, City of London
New Street Square is a landmark building, beautifully designed and with stunning views across London and particularly of St Paul’s Cathedral. Traditionally, print material would be key in marketing a building like this, often followed up post-meeting with a downloadable PDF. The views at New Street Square are so attractive, that the client wanted to highlight the office space with the views, and the views alone in a series of panoramas.
360 Digital Commercial Property Brochure
The 360 ibrochure features a 3D flyover movie showing the location and context of the building within the City of London.
You enter the 360 i-brochure to explore the office space. You have the option to zoom in for detail. As the view is so incredible we also captured panoramas through the glass at different times of day. These multiple panos in different lighting conditions really help showcase the drama of this location.
And yes, you can download the PDF ready to print if you still use paper!
Commercial Property Brochure 360 Digital
The big advantages of this format is that it’s much more memorable than handing a prospect a printed brochure. It conveys the vital information in a downloadable PDF. It can be easily shared amongst decision-makers and key personnel.
Clients can choose to include other elements, such as exterior 360s, floorplans, hotspots within the 360s which open info points, soundtracks, voiceovers and even embedded video.
If you’d like to talk about how a digital commercial property brochure can help you deliver sales, then please do get in touch.
We were commissioned to shoot an artist’s studio virtual tour for the late John Hoyland’s studio, as it was when he was alive.
About John Hoyland
John Hoyland was born in Sheffield in 1934 to a working-class family. He was educated at Sheffield School of Art and Crafts within the junior art department before progressing to Sheffield College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools, London. There, Sir Charles Wheeler (then President of the Royal Academy) famously ordered that Hoyland’s paintings – all abstracts – be removed from the walls of the Diploma Galleries. It was only the intervention of Peter Greenham, Acting Keeper of the Schools, that saved the day when he reminded Sir Charles Wheeler that Hoyland had painted admired landscapes and figurative paintings, the required evidence that he could ‘paint properly’.
In 1953 Hoyland went abroad for the first time, and hitch-hiked down to the South of France. After the bleakness of post-war Sheffield it was a revelation: “To me it was like landing in Tahiti. There was still rationing here. Down there were all these brown girls, swimming and diving, and all these grapes.” Hoyland visited again in 1957 with David Smith when he was at the Royal Academy and got what he referred to as ‘The Gauguin syndrome’, a lifelong romance with travel and the south.
The Artist’s Studio Virtual Tour
This artist’s studio virtual tour shows John Hoyland’s studio as it was when he worked here, with paintings and materials all in situ. The studio is a shrine to Hoyland, with the colours of the beautiful paint-spattered floor continuing onto a pair of his painting shoes, a poignant detail visible in the corner.
Virtual tours are a wonderfully immersive way of documenting a space, and in this case, is able to give a flavour of the man who worked here. If you’d like to discuss anything about virtual tours, please do get in touch with us.
Nearly 10 years ago we completed our first Royal Palace 360 tours for the Royal Household. We are honoured to have worked with the Royal Household team in the intervening years, creating more 360s of the palaces and even a state banquet.
Some of our existing 360 photography was relaunched alongside some new 360 images, for the Royal Collection Trust. The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal family and the world’s largest private art collection. The 360 tours allow some of the incredible works in the Royal Collection to be showcased online, in their settings within the palaces.
It’s incredibly satisfying for us that images we shot over a decade ago have stood the test of time and are still in use by such an illustrious client. There have been improvements in camera technology that have allowed us to increase the resolution of the new images.
Beyond the visual splendour, these 360 tours play an important role in making the Royal Collection more accessible to a global audience. While visiting these historic sites in person is an incredible experience, not everyone has the opportunity to do so. The virtual tours provide a window into these remarkable spaces, allowing people to appreciate their grandeur and artistry from anywhere in the world.
Working on these projects has been a privilege, not only in terms of the technical challenge but also in capturing the atmosphere and intricate details of these iconic locations. Every room tells a story, and it’s rewarding to know that our work helps bring these narratives to life in an immersive and engaging way.
You can click into the 360 tours and explore each room, discovering tidbits of information about the surrounding works of art. We hope you enjoy looking around the images.
We’d love to hear about your 360 tour project, so please do get in touch.
Architecture 360s – Documenting A Point in History
We were commissioned to create architecture 360s inside the renowned Millennium Mills building. Millennium Mills is one of London’s most famous derelict buildings, having been featured in film, television, music videos and in the exploits of urban explorers.
Millennium Mills
The old Millennium Mills building overlooks the Royal Docks in London’s Docklands. This flour mill was built in 1905 and aimed to mill enough flour to ‘bring white bread to the masses’. It was partially destroyed during World War I when a nearby munitions factory exploded. In 1920 Spillers (who were also a millers, but who were moving into the dog food business) bought it. They rebuilt it in 1933, hence its clear art deco looks. Destroyed in the Second World War, the mill was thus rebuilt again in 1953. The Royal Docks closed in 1981, and with the transportation advantage gone, many of the businesses relocated. Millennium Mills has lain derelict ever since.
Silvertown Redevelopment
The Silvertown Partnership has secured £3.5bn funding to regenerate the Silvertown area, with £12m of this funding going to the Millennium Mills building. The Mills will be transformed into a centre for business and enterprise, with the area around featuring 3,000 new homes, bolstering the city’s affordable housing stock.
Architecture 360s
The Silvertown Partnership wanted to document the Millennium Mills building at this point in time, before the redevelopment commenced. 360 virtual tours are an excellent means of creating an historical record of buildings. Although stills photos show portions of the surroundings and convey a rough impression, 360s allow for thorough exploration. The architects and developers can refer to them, zooming in and out to see the detail. In the future, architecture 360s will allow the residents and users of the spaces to look back in time for a fascinating glimpse into the building as it once was.
Please click Launch Project to view the Millennium Mills Architecture 360s.
A brief came in to create a high resolution photograph that would print beautifully at 7 x 7 meters. Nothing out of the ordinary for us as we specialise in high resolution, big images. But there was a catch – the subject was a single gerbera flower with a diameter of 10cm. This is macro photography with a difference – hence calling it a ‘macro gigapixel’.
The first challenge was to locate a pristine fresh flower. After several phone calls, we had first dibs on a gerbera delivery the following morning in Muswell Hill. The florist was very accommodating and didn’t look too unnerved when I got the magnifying glass out and started searching for the best.
Making a macro gigapixel
Utilising a Phase One medium format 100MP back armed with the 120 macro lens we started testing. Technically this is a tricky shoot. When photographing with a macro lens the depth of field is incredibly narrow. To get around this we used a technique called focus bracketing (also known as focus stacking) where we shot aproximately 40 macro protographs each with a slightly different focus. When combined into a single image the result is a macro image with sharpness throughout. The final file is a composition of 387 medium format exposures.
To make the macro gigapixel file size big enough for the final print, we worked in sections – stitching 9 different areas of the flower. These were then stitched into a single file.
The results needed many hours of retouching to remove pollen and other contaminants from the delicate flower but the results were worth it. Our client was delighted with the final image which printed flawlessly at 7 metres squared.
Click to find out more about what a gigapixel is, and how we create our gigapixel images.
Articlating space beautifully can be a struggle. We’ve created a suite of tools to help simply manage and display content in an attractive and intuitive way. This examples makes use of an enhanced gigapixel to present content to an audience.
In this demo, a gigapixel cityscape is used as an opening movie. When you click you are taken through into a gigapixel cityscape image. You can explore the skyline by zooming in and, vitally, users have the option of finding out which building is which, and gaining more information about the main landmarks in view.
The info points on the enhanced gigapixel can be populated by or linked to a variety of external resources, such as 360 interactive images, youtube, vimeo, e-commerce pages, and so on.
This way of presenting content can be especially relevant for businesses with many sites across one geographic location. They may currently have multiple pages which users have to click through to, but with no cohesive way of displaying the locations together, apart from a map. In contrast, this enhanced visual adds layers of interactivity to encourage users to explore fully.
It is straightforward to manage, easy to upgrade, responsive and works across all platforms and devices.
The burgeoning student accommodation market is not without its challenges. Taylor Wessing predicts “a highly competitive market with potential new entrants to the sector” (2018: Trends in the purpose built student accommodation sector). In addition to new market entrants, the standard of existing student accommodation is improving generally. Providers have moved beyond bland, uniform accommodation, and are offering high aesthetic standards and many additional features to appeal to their prospects. The advent of greater choice leads to students becoming ever-more selective. They’re looking for value for money, but are also envisioning their accommodation to be a key part of their overall student experience. Given that marketing student accommodation is becoming more challenging, creating a brand connection becomes all the more important.
Marketing student accommodation – where does 360 content fit in?
360 content offers an opportunity to tell your ‘brand story’ – not only by showcasing the space, but by expanding on this narrative with details that connect with university applicants, that solve problems for them. While they’re looking around their potential accommodation, you can reassure them. Below are just a few ideas to include:
show them the useful features that they’ll find in their rooms – from broadband to handy storage
provide details about security measures that are in place to keep students safe
highlight the social spaces
expand on the type of events that are held in these social spaces
Remote buying decisions
In many cases, it’s not solely students who will be involved in the buying decision. 360s can provide enough information for students and their parents to differentiate between accommodation options and make a decision remotely – this is especially important for overseas students and their families.
Good 360s will illustrate the accommodation, but with clever use of extra content they can also reassure parents and students alike that this is the right choice for them. If a provider is offering unparalleled security features for example, these can be highlighted within a 360 tour. Video can be embedded within the 360, so it can bring together and harmonise other existing content to portray a full picture of the accommodation and experiences students can expect.
What’s important?
Superb 360 photography can be a valuable tool for marketing student accommodation; but only when the photography is of a good enough standard, and there’s enough information to engage with prospects. These are the boxes 360s need to tick:
Contains the optimum amount of well-presented and relevant content to engage with viewers and take them on the journey of what makes this accommodation their best choice.
High resolution photography that clearly shows the finer details even when zoomed in.
Sharp at all viewing distances.
Retouched to remove scuffs, dirt, stains, etc., to ensure the accommodation is exhibited to its best advantage.
Of sufficient quality to stand the test of time, to avoid looking tired or dated in a year or two.
Some accommodation providers are going the route of a ‘walkthrough tour’ (using a Matterport system). Rather than focussing on key areas and showcasing them beautifully, the Matterport system captures hundreds of lower-resolution images that can’t be retouched or enhanced to show the surroundings off in the best light.
This option is budget-friendly, although it should be noted that there are monthly costs, and the image rights belong to Matterport USA, not to the client. The major disadvantage is that it results in low-quality imagery when compared to real photography and bespoke tours. Providers need to question whether students remote experience of the accommodation is improved by, for example, being able to ‘walk’ from the reception desk to the common room in a series of unexciting imagery. This is missing an opportunity for providers to enlarge on their brand narrative. Instead, showcasing key areas beautifully whilst highlighting exciting features and benefits allows the 360s to be a brand asset.
Getting more out of 360 content
Social media
Providers can get even greater value from their student accommodation 360 tours by utilising them beyond their website alone. 360 content can and should be used on social media to tell the brand story. On Facebook for example, 360s can be embedded directly. Content that is interactive creates much higher engagement rates on socal media than static images. Your 360s can help both build your audience and encourage advocates.
Google Business Profile
Student accommodation providers can populate their Google Business profile with interactive 360 images. Google’s algorithm prioritises high-quality images over often lower quality, user-uploaded images. This enables providers to take control over their visuals on the Google Business pages.
In conclusion…
Well executed and considered 360 content can increase engagement with users, bringing them in closer to a brand. Providers who view 360 content as a tick-box exercise on their site are missing a valuable opportunity, and in today’s challenging environment look increasingly likely to be left behind.
“It is clear that for students, it is not a bed at any price and complex buying decisions are being made.”
Source: Cushman & Wakefield UK Student Accommodation Report 2017/18
This series of images are the result of an incredible brief for Eye Revolution photographer, Will Pearson. Will was approached by a client to shoot a series of 360 images showcasing California’s epic landscape – with a particular focus on the meditative calmness of being in nature. Will already had an affinity for California, having shot there on several occasions before. He was asked to spend weeks exploring California’s loveliest wilderness locations with his assistant, producer and a back-up team. In addition, he gained access to locations that are restricted and require permits. A dream opportunity for any photographer. The resulting work gives viewers the opportunity to visit these locations for themselves in glorious detail.
We’ve undertaken this kind of work both before and since, with briefs for destination marketing 360s in both Switzerland and Peru.
To view the California 360s, please click ‘Launch Project’
This property 360 tour gives you a sneak peek at this incredible house in Whitechapel, East London, where the current owner has created a Georgian living space fit for the 21st century.
The property was built at the end of the 18th century and had seen life as a tailor’s shop as well as a family home. The owner lovingly converted it back from a commecial property into a home. The conversion was undertaken with great respect for the original house, and is now a Georgian gem once more.
A property 360 tour gives viewers the most-in-depth look around a property without actually being there. Photography is clear and crisp, letting viewers zoom in to see the detail around the rooms. Each property 360 tour is VR enabled, so can also be viewed on VR headsets. Our 360s are also optimised for delivery on mobile devices.
We were privileged to work with the R&A Golf Club of St Andrews to create their golf club virtual tour. We have completed a project that will allow the Royal & Ancient Clubhouse to effectively throw open its doors to members around the world. The 360 tours will give viewers a behind-the-scenes tour of the clubhouse.
The R&A Golf Clubhouse
The R&A Clubhouse is next to the first tee of the Old Course at St Andrews. St Andrews is world-famous; considered to be the oldest golf course in the world and known widely as ‘The Cathedral of Golf’ and ‘The Home of Golf’. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club club boasts over 2,000 members (who are members by invitation only) worldwide. The 360 tours allow these members to take a detailed, 360 degree tour around the home of golf. They can inspect the trophies and artwork as well as at the sumptuous clubhouse itself.
Showcasing artefacts
The R&A is home to an incredible collection of paintings, maps, trophies and medals, and of course, clubs and balls.
One of the most prized paintings in the collection is Medal Day at St Andrews 1894. The painting depicts future Prime Minister, Arthur Balfour, driving in as Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1894. It’s a huge piece, measuring 1.5 by nearly 3 metres, and shows 191 golfers in front of the R&A clubhouse. The public will be able to click on the painting and zoom in to inspect the hi-res image. In this way, the 360s will allow people unprecedented access to the collection in detail, wherever they are in the world.
Content Management System (CMS)
The 360s utilise a Content Management System (CMS). This enables the client to add, edit and remove content (such as info points) themselves. This is an excellent solution for clients who may have a great deal of content highlighted within the 360 tours that they may wish to change. As new trophies (for example) are added to the collection, the client can add an info point with large image and accompanying text. If artworks move, they can change the info points accordingly. They can do this simply in-house, without incurring further costs.
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
It’s vital that any site with an international audience can deliver content swiftly and smoothly in each country. For the R&A Golf Clubhouse, the virtual tours are distributed via a Content Delivery Network (CDN) around the world. This means that the tours are delivererd locally to the end user. Thus, loading times are improved, bandwidth costs reduced and vitally, traffic spikes will not interrupt service.
Seeing the R&A 360s
The R&A Golf 360s are not currently available for non-members to view. To discuss a golf club virtual tour project, please do get in touch.
Space agency virtual tour at ESTEC, the European Space Agency’s test centre. Explore spacecraft testing facilities, and see where European space exploration is conceived with these interactive 360° images.
Background
The European Space Agency’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) at Noordwijk in The Netherlands is the test centre for all space activity in Europe. Just like NASA in the USA. ESTEC engineers are hands-on with mission design, spacecraft and space technology. They handle the technical preparation and management of the space projects. Plus, they provide technical support for the European Space Agency’s satellite, space exploration and human space activities.
The Brief
The European Space Agency required a space agency virtual tour at ESTEC. This would be an interactive experience for visitors to their website, allowing them to closely explore the main testing areas at ESTEC. We were honoured to be selected to provide the virtual tours and interactive interface to allow viewers worldwide to explore the centre.
The Execution: Space Agency Virtual Tour
We shot numerous 360s around ESTEC to capture the areas of interest. It was vital to shoot areas that the public would never be allowed, so that they could explore these areas in detail remotely. The final interactive visit allows visitors to look 360° around the centre, and find out more about certain elements by clicking on hotspots which provide detailed information about the equipment. They are able to see where they are at all times by using the 3D navigation map. The map also allows users to hover over a location which interests them, and this location is then highlighted on the map and vice versa.
The Results
The tours were very well received and online visitors worldwide are able to explore the Space Agency. Many of the areas we shot would never be open to the public, or are inaccessible for disabled visitors, so allowing people to visit these areas virtually really opens up the Space Agency to everyone.
In 2019 we updated the tour to include a more responsive HTML5 design, with mobile users in mind.
Click the Launch Project button to explore the European Space Agency virtual tour and see for yourself what happens inside the ESA test centre.
As interior photographers, we specialise in documenting space in the way that makes most sense to a viewer. It’s hard to fully understand a space from a still, or even a series of stills. Whereas 360 interior photography can put the viewer directly in the scene, so they’re orientated within the space. Overlaying additional content can clarify still further, and highlight elements to interest and engage the viewer.
Articulating Solutions
It’s this feature of interior 360s that makes them an ideal tool for articulating solutions. Concepts that would take a great deal of text to explain can be easily conveyed in an engaging manner. It’s this that drew Euroworkspace to use 360s to illustrate their ‘smart locker’ concept through 360 virtual tours.
UBM, the main tenant of 240 Blackfriars wanted to create a smart working environment. Staff have ‘smart lockers’ – which are jam-packed full of clever features, sending data on the locker’s usage to administrators, and allowing staff to simply select the desk they’ll work at that day. To increase sustainability, the desk-booking system works with the power systems, so that when staff book a desk, the power at that station turns on. When they log out, it turns off, and at 10.00pm power to all desks is automatically disabled. Features like this have significantly reduced the amount of energy wasted by the company.
It’s hard to explain these and many more features without a great deal of text, so we were commissioned to create a series of 360s to showcase the stunning office space and intergrate this with a voiceover that talks viewers through how the various systems and smart lockers work.
The 360s were launched at the Facilities Show, and were very well received. Our client has this to say about the project: “Will and the team produced 360-degree images of an exceptional quality for our case-study. They were very patient and gave me some great advice regarding set up and promotion.”
Interior Photographers, London
If you’re looking for interior photographers experienced in articulating space and solutions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
We have been creating virtual tours for over two decades. Our long experience tells – each 360 image is finely crafted to give your viewers the best possible views of the space. Please read on to find out more about the Old Sessions House virtual tour.
Old Sessions House, Clerkenwell
Our reputation means we’re lucky enough to be commissioned to shoot some breathtaking locations, but even in exalted company Old Sessions House really stands out. Ennismore own this amazing building, and will be using it as a restaurant, bar and private events venue. Their work on the project has allowed the building to be the hero. Our 360 virtual tours are particularly good at documenting the space and letting it speak for itself.
The classical Georgian building in Clerkenwell Green, London, was completed in 1780. It was a courthouse until the late 19th century, known as Middlesex Sessions House. Judges sat in session 8 times a year, and the building includes the dungeons in which prisoners were held. We shot high resolution virtual tours to document the decayed grandeur of this Grade II listed building. Navigation is simple, you just click the thumbnail to view each 360.
Our extensive insurance covers us to work in a wide variety of unusual settings, so you can book in your shoot without concern. If you have an historic building and would like to discuss documenting it in 360 virtual tours, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Please click the ‘Launch Project’ button to see the Old Sessions House virtual tour. Should you wish to view other heritage virtual tours please click here (opens in a new tab).
Aviation 360 for viewers to take a look at the ground-breaking new HondaJet
A business aircraft… but different
In the Very Light Jet (VLJ) category, conventional wisdom has the engines mounted on the fuselage or under the wings. Honda’s entrant to the category turned this thinking on its head and mounted the engines over the wings. This new way of thinking was pivotal for Honda, as they were able to increase cabin space for greater passenger comfort. Improved aerodynamics also reduce fuel consumption by about 15%, a significant reduction. The jet flies faster and higher than anything else in its class.
Aviation Marketing with 360 Photography
360 Photography (also known as virtual tours; 360 VR; 360 interactives) offers web visitors a much more engaging experience than stills alone. For private jet companies or commercial airlines, the ability to let discerning prospects take a look around the aircraft at their own pace is invaluable.
Rather than glancing at an image in passing, the viewer is encouraged to spend time looking around the aircraft, zooming in to see the detail. Tours can also include hotspots which provide additional information on key elements within a scene.
The X-Class, Mercedes’ premium pick-up deserves to be shown off in startlingly clear detail. We created pixel-perfect 360 degree car photography for Mercedes to showcase this very special ‘workhorse’ vehicle. You can zoom right in to view the sumptuous texture of the seat fabric or focus on the dash and trim, which have the feel of a passenger car.
Shooting 360 Cars
We shot the X-Class in the studio to get absolutely perfect results. Shooting 360 car photography is technically challenging – you can read more about how we create such flawless images here. This article explains why we shoot it in a studio and add in the background separately for the best results.
Marketing Commercial Vehicles
360 Car photography can be utilised in marketing commercial vehicles, so fleet managers and end-users alike can have a thorough explore inside the van. They can use the 360 as a tool to help assess the load space and driver comfort. Here’s an example that shows both the load space and cabin: Mercedes Sprinter van 360.
360 Car Photography Specialists
We have been specialists in 360 photography with a particular passion for cars for many years. We are privileged to work with some incredible automotive clients. To view more of our car 360s, please look through our portfolio. In the meantime, here are a couple of quick links:
Eye Revolution is delighted to have worked with England Rugby Hospitality. We have produced a stadium 360 tour at Twickenham stadium – the home of English rugby.
England Rugby Hospitality are the official hospitality suppliers for the RFU (Rugby Football Union). Their requirement was to show prospective customers the premium match seats they can access when they purchase hospitality packages. Many of the packages at Twickenham stadium allow customers to experience gourmet taster menus and fine wines or cocktails. These can be enjoyed for several hours before the match in relaxed surroundings. They can also have drinks reserved for half-time, meet rugby legends and much more. Being able to show prospects around the space is a helpful sales tool, and can assist customers in choosing the package that best suits their needs.
Shooting a stadium 360
The shoot took place on the day of an England v Wales Six Nations game. Capturing live event stadium 360s like this for marketing purposes is often challenging. We needed to shoot from fantastic positions that really showcased the premium seats, but needed to stay out of the way enough to avoid becoming a nuisance to the ticket holders – our client’s clients! It was more important than ever to be inconspicuous. There would of course be a requirement to blur the closest faces too.
We planned the day’s equipment to be lightweight as possible, so as to be quickly and easily moved between shoot positions. It was vital not to spend time handling equipment while in position, or to have bags or pelicases that could cause any obstruction. On the day of the shoot we worked swiftly, trying to capture each 360 in the least possible time to minimise any disruption. The good-natured crowd at Twickenham Stadium made our task much easier. In fact, they seemed thoroughly unconcerned by our low-impact shoot!
The final score? A fierce battle led to an England victory 12-6.
If you’d like to talk about a virtual tour project, please don’t hesitate to get in touch – we’re always delighted to discuss all things 360!
Property 360 tour around a luxury apartment at Kingswick House. The tour is in high resolution, allowing viewers to zoom in to see details close-up. This VR-enabled property 360 tours features call-outs, which are a useful tool for highlighting features of interest, such as the iPad controlled skylight in the dining room.
To find out more about how we can help you to showcase your space in 360° please do get in touch.
The Royal Household Royal.gov.uk website was undergoing a complete revamp, and required a series of 360 images so the public could view hitherto unseen areas of the Royal Palaces. The virtual tours would need to include hotspots which would open additional information on particular objects of interest in the Royal Collection.
The Challenges
We create ultra high resolution 360 stills by ‘stitching’ together many images. This is an extremely precise process, and the opulence of the surroundings made this vitally important here. Whilst a white ceiling could be a fraction of a millimetre out and it wouldn’t be noticeable, the rug in the Throne Room (for example) required absolute flawlessness. The hand retouching process took many hours of painstaking work to ensure the final images were to a standard which did justice to the historic and sumptuous surroundings.
The Execution
We created 360s for rooms at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and also for a state banquet at Windsor Castle for the Qatar State Visit. As a separate project we also created 360s for St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. The brief was for each 360 to be a standalone resource, accessible via a thumbnail on the Royal Residence page. Once in the 360, the viewer can look around the room at fullscreen size, and click on hotspots to view info about the treasures in the Royal Collection.
The Results
The new Royal Household website was launched at a reception at Buckingham Palace, and the 360 images played a key part in the launch as they were the “surprise feature” of the new website. Along with Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, the late Queen unveiled an enormous screen showcasing the 360s to the assembled guests.
The virtual tours were very well received with much of the British and world press choosing to highlight the virtual tours. Emily Bell, writing in The Guardian says ‘there is a wonderful high-definition panoramic gallery of bits of the royal residences…’. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II herself commented on the clarity of the images and how much she liked them.
We were honoured to be asked to create the St George’s Chapel Windsor 360 virtual tour. St George’s is the place of worship for the royal residence of Windsor Castle. The castle chapel boasts over 6 centuries of history, and has seen a host of Royal weddings over the centuries.
Royal Weddings
The royal wedding of 2018 saw Prince Harry (Prince Henry of Wales) and the American actress Meghan Markle married at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Later that year, Princess Eugenie wed her fiancé Jack Brooksbank here. 600 guests attended, along with 2,640 charity workers, community champions and local school children watching from inside the castle walls. Thousands more people flocked to Windsor hoping for a glimpse of the Royal couple and their guests.
Dating from 1348, the chapel is steeped in history, and is the burial place of Henry VIII as well as the executed Charlies I. In the virtual tour of ‘The Quire’, look down and you’ll see where Henry VIII is interred. Henry the Eighth was interred alongside the remains of Jane Seymour, his favourite Queen, who died from complications shortly after giving birth to his son. Charles I is also buried here.
You can see where the Knights of the Garter (including Margaret Thatcher, and Prince William, and who have included Edmund Hillary and Winston Churchill in the past) sit in chapel, and view their ‘stall plates’ showing their coats of arms and titles.
See inside St George’s Chapel Windsor in these 360 tours
You can enjoy the magnificent detailing in the chapel best by viewing at fullscreen. You can also zoom in to see the detail. There are three St Georges 360s – the Quire, the Nave and the Lower Ward (exterior).
Perfect Start Haywards Heath is a beautifully-designed nursery that strives to put the children at the centre of everything they do. This is apparent in the lovely surroundings that feature natural materials all around the nursery. The tables and sandpits are all wooden (no plastic tables here). The toys are wood and fabric, and the garden equipment is also made from natural materials.
Perfect Start Nurseries were opening a fantastic new location in Haywards Heath. They wanted to show parents the surroundings remotely, so they could see for themselves what a great environment this is for their baby, toddler or pre-schooler. Perfect Start decided they needed something more than just stills to really convey how fantastic the setting Haywards Heath is. They realised that 360 photography was the perfect nursery marketing tool. The 360s really allow parents to explore the surroundings at their own pace. Prospective parents can use the virtual tour before a visit in person, to start to appreciate the advantages of the setting. This can encourage parents to consider Perfect Start for their child, and book a tour. The tour can then be used after a visit when parents are making the final decision. They can use the tour to remind themselves of the different rooms and facilities.
It’s vital for parents to select the right setting, and so by using 360 nursery virtual tours, Perfect Start have made it easier for parents to research the options, and determine the best nursery for their child.
360 Property photography of Compton Lodge in Hampstead – a £14m family home close to Hampstead Heath and Highgate Golf Club.
The property tours include the indoor swimming pool, and views of the interior such as the mezzanine floors and gloriously light living spaces.
360 Property photography is able to showcase the space in much greater detail than stills alone can achieve. Viewers can really get a feel for the space, enjoying the space as a whole. The high resolution images allow the viewer to zoom in and see the detail. The tours are VR-enabled and so can be viewed on a VR headset.
We were delighted to be commissioned to create commercial vehicles virtual tours for Mercedes Vans. You can view 360s across the Mercedes van fleet – including the Sprinter, Citan and Vito. 360s let the viewer look all around the space, as if they were inside it. As a result, your prospects have a feel for the load space, and familiarity with the layout, materials and textures.
There’s real industrial beauty in these ‘naked’ vans – the satin of the metal photographs superbly, and it’s left to the viewers imagination how they’d use the space.
The 360s we created for Mercedes Vans are shown without backgrounds. The vans were all shot in a studio, giving us complete control over the lighting. You can have a background added in post-production, choosing where your van would be best shown – whether in the city, a rural setting or perhaps a construction site. You can see many examples of car 360s with backgrounds in our portfolio. We shoot backgrounds (also known as backplates) to order, and also licence existing images for this purpose.
Please click the links below to view the 360 interiors of these Mercedes-Benz vans (open in new window).
We specialise in exceedingly high quality, flawlessly sharp automotive virtual tours, and you’ll see many examples in our portfolio. We have worked with Jaguar, Land Rover, Volkswagen, Peugeot and SEAT to name just a few.
If you have a requirement for interior 360s of your commercial vehicle range, please click here to get in touch. We’ll be happy to talk you through the process and provide an estimate for your project.
At the heart of interactive 360 media is photography. Whilst that may sound obvious, bear with us for a moment! The technology that displays 360 virtual tours changes and evolves quickly, but superb photography will last on. Back in 2008 we created the first in a series of 360s for the Royal Household. In 2018 we updated the technology (for example, updating the player, dropping the flash option for html5) but the photography we shot a decade ago still holds good. It’s incredibly satisfying for us to see those decade-old 360s sit nicely with the our 2017 shoots for the Royal Household. Our work holds up because we are photographers first and foremost.
Eye Revolution’s MD Will Pearson has a passion for shooting Medium Format. He’s often to be found shooting cityscapes and landscapes on his Phase One IQ3. Over the years he has been working on his series of fine art photography, and has just launched a site dedicated to prints.
The new site shows images framed and unframed. You can also see how each would look in situ in visualisations within a room. You will see London cityscapes, city skylines from around the world, a new series of California landscapes, plus many other large-scale images.
The main image above features Will (centre) showcasing a silver hand-gilded cityscape at Sotheby’s, London. If you are interested in viewing a gilded piece at Sotheby’s please contact us arrange an appointment.
These property 360s show the leafy exterior and dramatic interior of this £12m home in a church conversion in Richmond, South-East London.
The property comes complete with a 118ft tower and a swimming pool inside. The property 360s give viewers the chance to explore a full 360° around the rooms, and you can zoom in to see the detail.
360 car interior photography – putting prospects in the car
360 car photography is our passion, and we are privileged to work with a world-class company like Land Rover to create 360 car photography of their range. The Range Rover Sport is the sporty sibling to the Range Rover, a vehicle that combines an impeccable off-road pedigree with a luxury interior.
Range Rover Sport interior
A sharp, flawless 360 inside a vehicle allows prospects to feel familiar with the car, the materials even before they book a test drive. More compelling than flat images, a 360 is versatile and can be utilised in dealerships, on manufacturer websites and on social media. It’s engaging content for VR Headsets at events too.
Shooting Car 360s
If you’re considering shooting a car interior and have questions about how we shoot 360s then our 360 car photography article might help. It answers questions such as whether or not it can be shot on location; whether you should be thinking about 360 interactives or 360 video, and how you can use it once you have it.
Click the ‘Launch Project’ button below, and scroll down to ‘EXPLORE INTERIOR’ to view the Range Rover Sport 360 car interior.
Car virtual reality allows manufacturers to put prospects inside the car in any variety of ways. 360 car interiors viewed via VR have many applications – at motorshows to showcase an absent model, for dealerships to give customers the experience of being inside the vehicle, for online prospects to get a feel for the car. They can even be used as a VR mailout direct to a customer’s doorstep.
Range Rover Velar 360s
For the launch of the new Range Rover Velar we were briefed to create a 360 that would showcase the superb interior. The Velar sits between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport. The Velar is a gorgeous luxury vehicle that deserves the best possible visuals.
Commissioning a car 360
To find out how to get the best results from a 360 car shoot, you can read our thoughts here.
Get in touch
To talk about commissioning us to create a car 360 or other car virtual reality content for you, please call us on +44 (0) 20 360 30231 or contact us via this form.
To view the Range Rover Velar 360, please click the launch project button below, and scroll down to ‘EXPLORE INTERIOR’
We’ve recently shot 360 photos of Downing Students properties in Newcastle, Leeds and Glasgow. These incredible properties are a world away from the dim and dingy halls we endured when we were students! The halls are beautifully designed and offer outstanding accommodation which is both bright and functional. The client needed 360 photos that would reflect the quality inherent in their brand. We were delighted that they selected Eye Revolution to work with them on their 360 project.
Prospective tenants can use the interface (that brings all the individual 360 images together) to explore their potential surroundings in detail. You can discover hidden features, such as storage for bulky suitcases concealed in storage under the beds, security entryphone systems, high speed wifi and so on. You can also explore other areas in the 360 tours, like the games rooms, cinema rooms and outside spaces.
360 photos – a useful tool for marketing student accommodation?
360 photos offer potential tenants a virtual visit to the accommodation, really letting them get a feel for the surroundings. The 360s give much more of an impression than still photography could. Overlaying additional information lets you highlight features of interest to your target market. Your 360s can be viewed both on your website, and can also be displayed in kiosks at exhibitions. The 360 photos are VR-enabled, allowing them to be viewed with VR headsets such as Google Cardboard.
Please click on the ‘Launch’ buttons to be taken to the student accommodation 360 photos of Downing Students Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow. If you are interested in commissioning 360 photos of your university student accommodation, please do get in touch by phone on 020 360 30231 or using online contact form.
360 Property photography of this beautifully renovated double-fronted house in Chiswick, West London. Owned by a well-known TV personality, the house has been refurbished to an exceptional standard. The house has been decorated with flair, and yet the comfortable, family-feel has not been sacrificed.
Our property virtual tours showcase high-end properties to their best advantage. We do not use scanning camera systems. These can offer a cheap solution which are an advantage for properties in a lower price bracket as they are quick and low-budget. However, these images cannot be retouched to ensure the best possible results, which is absolutely vital for more exclusive properties.
Our 360 property photography is shot by skilled professional photographers and hand-crafted back in our London-based studio for the optimum finish.
Explore the home of Scottish Royal history in this Holyrood Palace 360 Tour. You can look around The Great Stair, the Morning Drawing Room and the King’s Bedchamber in high resolution. Thus you can zoom in and see the detail on the tapestries and other artworks. Info points provide additional detail about the items in the collection.
The Palace of Holyroodhouse
For 500 years Holyrood Palace has been home to Monarchs, from Mary Queen of Scots to King Charles III. Before becoming a Royal residence, an abbey stood on the site from the 12th century. Now, the King is in residence there whenever he is is Scotland, often holding investitures, audiences and garden parties. The Royal Collection Trust manage public access to the building. You can visit almost all year round – except when a member of the Royal family is in residence. The virtual tour encompasses three main areas:
The Great Stair
As visitors arrive and make their way up the Great Stair, they might well be drawn to the fine tapestries and paintings that adorn the walls. The beauty of this 360 tour is that it allows online viewers the luxury of looking up. And so in looking up they can zoom in to view the magnificent plasterwork ceiling.
Morning Drawing Room
You can have a leisurely look around the Morning Drawing Room (also known as the Privy Chamber). A wood-panelled chamber hung with tapestries depicting tales from the myths. These tapestries were bought by Charles II in the 17th century. The info points in the tour give viewers information on the artefacts around the room, including gifts to Queen Victoria.
King’s Bedchamber
The King’s Bedchamber, created in the 17th century again features a plasterwork ceiling that’s not to be missed. Look up in the virtual tour and you’ll see an intricate, incredible ceiling. Most noteworthy is the centrepiece – a painting by Jacob de Wet. The trompe l’oeil effect at the edges give you the impression that you’re peering into the heavens above. Look at how the animals’ paws are seemingly poised over the edge!
Please click ‘Launch Project’ to view the Palace of Holyroodhouse 360 virtual tour.
The Google Cardboard VR headset is an ingeniously simple and inexpensive piece of kit. It opens the door to individually targeted VR marketing campaigns even when budgets are tight.
Despite its humble materials, the Google Cardboard Viewer is actually the most versatile VR headset you can buy. The pricier headsets, like the Samsung Gear VR, tend to be tailored to one type of phone, whereas Cardboard is compatible with most smartphones.
The headsets can be branded with full colour print on both sides. Supersized units for the iPhone 6 Plus are also available. To give you an idea of budgets, a small campaign of 100 units would be around £6/unit, prices fall considerably as the quantities are increased, and these costs even correspond to the pricier models, there are many other pre-assembled and flat-packed units that fall below that price point.
If you’re considering pre-assembled units; which are better for direct handout, you’ll be looking at the following options:
V2.0 Standard: While this is their second oldest model (first one was V1, which is no longer available), it’s still a customer favourite. The immediacy to start using it, the sturdiness of the material and the extensive customisation options paired with a very fair price make a perfect giveaway present that won’t be tossed away.
V2.0 Deluxe: The shape, use and concept are the same as with the Standard, still, the Deluxe’s high end material selection make a special gift for the lovers of high quality print. This model also counts with another point in favour: the quality of the cardboard is upgraded to F-flute, which compared to Standard’s E-flute gives a more sleek appearance to the entire unit.
V2.5 Adjustable: Here’s a VR cardboard different from the others in terms of the vieweing experience. Whereas you have different shapes, meassures, weights, all units share the same high quality 34mm lenses; except for the V2.5 Adjustable. To avoid confusion: it does have the same 34mm lenses, however with this unit you count with tabs on either side that will allow you to adjust the interpupillary distance for a more comfortable experience. After this quick review of pre-assembled units, we can now show you the different flat options. You’ll see a few differences between models, but keep in mind that all the flat-packed headsets are ideal for posting and assembly is straightforward.
V3.1 Standard: Here we have the customer favourite of flat units. Even though it’s not the cheapest flat option it counts with a very sturdy outer shell and body, making them great to use, store and then use again. It’s also worth nothing this is the unit with the largest real estate for branding; if you have a large or very intricate design this model is a perfect fit.
VR Slim: This unit is only a bit older than one year old and it’s proven to be a consumer favourite. Light weight, can fold almost completely fast, with a very quick assembly time. It also uses the same 34 mm lenses as any pre-assembled unit, so the quality of the viewing experience will not change.
Nano VR: The smallest VR headset yet. The reduced folded size will give you the possibility to combine it or pack it with other smaller promotional items in a goody bag. What’s also reduced is the price, Nano VR is the most economic custom branded VR headset; combining this with a very light weight makes it a fantastic option for high volume marketing campaings.
The headsets can contain a small NFC (Near Field Communication) tag that can be programmed to trigger the user’s mobile to load an app or they can point it directly to a URL to view the VR content. Scannable QR Codes can also be printed onto the headsets to load content. While NFC tags may carry an additional cost, QR codes are the most inexpensive way around, as printing is already included in the pricing.
If you have more questions about VR, then our What is Virtual Reality page will help answer some FAQs.
Alternatively, please feel free to call us on 020 360 30231 to discuss any queries you may have or to talk about how we can help create content for your virtual reality project.
We focus on delivering exceptional 360 car interior images that reflect the designer’s vision and attention to detail.
We were commissioned to create a 360 car interior for Peugeot’s all-new 3008 crossover vehicle. First, the car was shot in the studio, then once we had stitched and retouched the car, we added in the background 360 (also one of our images). The end result is an incredibly high resolution 360, with flawless detailing. The viewer can zoom in and look closely at the features of interest, without losing quality.
No cars were harmed during this shoot…
Each time we shoot a car, we are shooting more and more images to get the best possible finish. This one was made up of nearly 800 shots. It’s not so long ago that to achieve this interior view, cars had to have doors removed, and sometimes even the roof off. We shoot the car intact, much to our clients’ relief.
Using Car 360s
Clients use the 360 spins to showcase the vehicle on their main website. They have also been used on dealer / retailer websites, at car shows, on VR headsets, on mobiles and tablets, and in kiosks at dealerships, enabling customers to view options. Our car 360s have also been used for online global advertising campaigns.
How to get the best from a 360 car shoot
Finally, if you’re considering commissioning a 360 car shoot, you can read our guide to help you get the best from a 360 car shoot. This gives you the low-down on shooting cars in the studio versus on location, the challenges of car 360 shoots, the options for backgrounds and much more.
If you have any questions about shooting car 360s, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Cognac 360 Photography – Harvesting both grapes and content
Cognac 360 Photography Remy Martin Vineyard
When the brief is “would you like to visit Cognac at harvest-time to shoot 360s for the world’s premier cognac brand?” the answer could only ever be a resounding yes. Our friends at Pacific7 commissioned us as part of a major drinks marketing project involving photographers, filmmakers and social media influencers to capture the harvest of the grapes that will eventually become Rémy Martin’s famous cognac. The content gathered was to be used in a range of different campaigns online, including apps, social media and blogs.
The Cognac 360 photography was shot over the course of the harvest in Southwestern France. We captured 360s all around the Rémy Martin sites. The vineyards, the workers harvesting in the grapes, the caskmakers (coopers) in the cooperage toasting the casks, the stills, and the eaux-de-vie in oak barrels, maturing in their lovely old stone warehouses.
We’ve worked with distilleries and vineyards before, but never cognac, so it was lovely to get an insight into a process which has been going on for hundreds of years on much the same way in this region.
How the casks are made
The casks themselves are fascinating. The coopers don’t just use any old oak – it is exactly the right cut of the century old oak, split with the grain and dried for up to three years before their journey into the casks even starts. The fires you can see in the 360s are for ‘toasting’ the wood into curved staves. During this heating process, the wire is placed around the base to hold the wood together. The barrels are joined in this way without any glue or nails.
Patience, pictured
Rémy Martin insists upon a minimum 10 year ageing process. The gently-lit warehouses are peaceful places, where the barrels lie undisturbed for many years, and in some cases, decades.
Aynhoe Park overlooks the Cherwell Valley in Oxfordshire. It’s a Palladian country house with a bit of a difference.
The history of Aynhoe Park
Aynhoe Park was rebuilt after the Civil War and spans several architectural periods. The hand of Sir John Soane is easily detected in the rooms he remodelled in the 19th Century.
James Perkins
For 15 years Aynhoe Park was home to James Perkins, who furnished the interiors of his house with an amazing collection of treasures from around the world. The family’s eclectic collection featured some remarkable taxidermy pieces, from polar bears to a black swan.
Shooting this house offered a great opportunity to create 360 tours which really sing from every angle. The opulent decor and abundance of detail mean that there’s something for the audience to explore in every part of every scene, from floor to ceiling.
Although the house is not open to the public, it was previously used as a venue for weddings and events. Sales of the collections that the Perkins family amassed often took place, with stunning and highly unusual taxidermy pieces being sold to collectors worldwide.
We hope you enjoy exploring Aynhoe Park – a thoroughly unique English country house – in these virtual tours as much as we enjoyed crafting them.
