The International QuickTime Virtual Reality Association (IQTVRA) is partnering with VRMAG with the goal of bringing the benefits of Virtual Reality (VR) to a broader audience and giving IQTVRA members another venue for the display of their talents.
The IQTVRA promotes and supports the uses of QuickTime VR and related technologies worldwide through education, community forums, networking opportunities, manufacturer alliances, marketing assistance, and technical support of its members’ efforts. QuickTime VR is Apple’s cross-platform VR technology. All major applications that play QuickTime movies can also play QuickTime VR movies.
VRMAG is an online magazine that explores the people, places and events of the world with VR. As part of the new alliance, the IQTVRA will now publish a regular column in VRMAG, and VRMAG will create two areas on its site where association members can showcase their work in different formats.
The IQTVRA Gallery will be a listing of individual VRs submitted by members. Viewers will be able to scan thumbnails and one-line descriptive headings before clicking on the link to the VR, hosted by VRMAG. The IQTVRA Showcase will be a repository of members’ VR Tours, or groups of VRs linked together by common theme, map, or hotlinks. Viewers will find thumbnails and a descriptive paragraph about the VR Tour. here The links in the Showcase will be directly to the tour on the members’ Web sites.
VRMAG has already given exposure to Apple software and hardware, of course. Recently, the magazine published a feature story on Belgian photographer Tito Dupret and his experience shooting inside the decorated ancient tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Seti I. The tomb was recently opened for the first time in over a decade to Dupret, who spent two days inside the ancient tomb shooting photographs in the Valley of the Kings.
Although the tomb was closed to the public in 1991, Dupret was given access by the Egyptian government in order to support his mission of photographing world heritage sites around the world listed by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Dupret has been traveling for two years photographing sites in 360-degree panorama.
Dupret’s only equipment in the shooting of Seti I’s tomb was a monopod, Nikon 4500 with wide lens and his Titanium PowerBook, to which he transfers his digital images to on the fly. For postproduction and dissemination online, he uses Realviz Stitcher 3.5, Adobe Photoshop 7.0, Adobe GoLive 6.0 and Apple QuickTime 6. Dupret’s collection of Seti I panoramas may be viewed on his Web site.