360-Degree Photography and Virtual Tours

A tour is useful only when a real person uses it to decide something. Start with the user, not the camera. After this module you can write a one-line brief for a 360-degree tour and name its real user, so every later shooting choice has a clear test.

• A 360 image is a full sphere of view; the viewer looks around on a screen.
• List five places where a tour helps a buyer decide: classroom, shop, guest room, workshop, hall.
• Ask the owner what a visitor should see first and what must stay hidden.
• Write the plan: 6 to 10 spots, a hide list, and how the link will be shared.
• Write a one-line brief before shooting, such as 'help a first-time guest find the breakfast room in under two minutes', and check every later decision against that line.
• Walk the space once with no camera and mark 8 to 15 candidate spots on a sketch; shooting from a plan saves hours of re-visits and stops you capturing dull corners.
• Ask the owner for a short list of the three questions visitors ask most; make sure the tour answers each in the first four spots.
• Decide in advance how long the tour should take: under three minutes for a quick look, ten for a full walk.

Activity. Choose one space, get written permission and write the one-page plan.

Standard to meet. Confirm permission is on file, list 6 to 10 spots, and write the hide list.

Common mistake. Choosing a space that nobody has agreed to show, then finding at the end that the owner objects.

Check yourself. Who is the tour for, and what is the first thing they must see?

A tour can harm people if it shows what it should not. Decide the rules before you press the shutter. You will be able to spot privacy and access problems in a space and agree written rules with its owner before any photograph is taken.

• Permission from the owner and from any person who can be recognised.
• Blur faces, number plates, screens and papers; remove street-door codes.
• Write alt text for each spot so blind and low-vision visitors can follow the tour.
• Keep a short consent note and a takedown contact on the tour page.
• Before each session sweep the room for papers, screens, whiteboards, name badges and family photos, and cover or move anything that reveals private details inside the sphere.
• Agree in writing what may be shown, how long the tour stays online, and who can ask for a spot to be removed. Then repeat those terms in an email the owner can answer yes to.
• Keep a signed copy of the permission note with the project files and put its date in the tour page footer.
• For children, schools and care homes, ask for written consent from a responsible adult and avoid showing anyone under 18.

Activity. Write the hide list and the alt-text style (one sentence: where, what, what to do next).

Standard to meet. Check that the hide list covers every spot and agree the alt-text style with the mentor.

Common mistake. Treating blur as optional. A single readable number plate or paper can break trust.

Check yourself. Name three things on your hide list and the spot where each appears.

Good capture saves hours of repair later. Keep height, level and light steady. You will capture overlapping spheres at a steady height, level and exposure, which cuts the repair time spent in the stitching stage.

• Camera at eye level on a stand, the same height at every spot.
• Spots about 3 metres apart in rooms, and up to 5 metres apart in halls.
• Step out of view or use a timer; check mirrors and glass for your reflection.
• In bright rooms take two or three exposures so light can be balanced later.
• Place the camera at about 1.5 metres, keep spots 3 to 5 metres apart in rooms and halls, and number each position on your sketch so the capture order matches the tour order.
• Check the exposure on the brightest window and the darkest corner before leaving a spot; if the range is too wide, take three shots: one normal, one darker and one lighter than normal.
• Use a bubble level on the stand; a tilt of even two degrees shows as a curved floor.
• Capture at the same time of day for all spots so shadows and colour match.

Activity. Walk the space with a floor plan, mark spots and capture them all.

Standard to meet. Capture all spots at one height with overlap, with no person visible in the raw files.

Common mistake. Changing camera height between spots, so the tour jumps up and down.

Check yourself. What height did you use, and how did you keep it the same?

Stitching joins overlapping pictures into one sphere. Seams and a tilted horizon are the usual faults. You will stitch overlapping frames into one sphere and correct seams and tilted horizons, so viewers never notice where pictures were joined.

• Check seams on straight lines such as door frames and tables.
• Level the horizon; fix colour so adjacent spots match.
• Retouch the stand out of the floor.
• Log each fault and the fix: a short table beats memory.
• Zoom to 100 percent along each seam and inspect doorframes, tiles and table edges, since straight lines that kink are the quickest way to spot a stitch error.
• Keep a short log of each fix, such as 'spot 04, added matching points on stair rail', so the next job reuses the cure instead of rediscovering it.
• Save the raw files untouched and work on copies, so you can always start again.
• Compare each stitched spot with a normal photograph to check proportions look true.

Activity. Stitch all spots and keep a fault log.

Standard to meet. Complete the fault log and check that no seam error is visible in the final images.

Common mistake. Fixing seams by guesswork and never logging what worked.

Check yourself. Which fault happened most often, and what stops it next time?

A tour is a path, not a pile of pictures. Links, captions and a map guide the viewer. You will link spheres, captions and a floor plan into a guided route, so a first-time visitor reaches the right room without getting lost.

• Choose the start spot: the one that answers the visitor's first question.
• Add arrows between spots; keep each spot to two or three links.
• One caption and one alt text per spot; add a simple floor map.
• Compress images so the tour opens on a phone.
• Limit each sphere to three or four hotspots with short verbs, such as 'Go to kitchen', and test that every arrow leads somewhere the viewer expects.
• Add a small floor plan with a moving position marker and a start-here button; guided orientation raises the share of visitors who reach the last room.
• Name every file with the spot number and room, for example 03-kitchen, so links stay tidy.
• Add a "You are here" dot on the floor map that moves as the viewer moves.

Activity. Build the draft tour and test it on a phone with slow data and on a computer.

Standard to meet. Test that the first spot loads in under 5 seconds and that every spot has a caption and alt text.

Common mistake. Linking every spot to every other spot, so visitors get lost.

Check yourself. How many links does each of your spots have, and why?

Fresh eyes find problems you cannot see. Watch people use it without helping them. You will run a silent test with fresh viewers on several devices and turn their hesitations into specific, fixable changes to the tour.

• Ask three peers to find the kitchen without any help.
• Record where they hesitate, get lost or leave.
• Count load time, number of spots and confusing links.
• Ask a mentor with photo or property experience to check light, seams and rights.
• Test on a phone over a mobile connection, a laptop, and one headset if available, and write down load time and any control that is hard to find for each device.
• Ask three testers to find a named object without help and watch silently; the places they hesitate are the places the tour needs a clearer label or arrow.
• Time how long each tester takes to reach the target room; under 30 seconds is a good aim.
• Ask one tester who uses a screen reader to try the alt text and note what is unclear.

Activity. Run the viewing circle and write down five fixes.

Standard to meet. List, rank and date five fixes.

Common mistake. Helping testers during the viewing circle, which hides the real problems.

Check yourself. Where did two or more testers hesitate?

A tour earns its keep only if people use it. Measure and then decide: publish, improve, or keep private. You will track a few usage figures and choose whether to publish, improve or keep a tour private, backed by evidence instead of opinion.

• Ask the owner and ten visitors to score ease and truth to the real place from 1 to 5.
• Average the scores: sum divided by number of people.
• Count views and enquiries for two weeks.
• Write three lessons learned and one clear decision.
• Track four figures for two weeks: views, average time spent, completion of the target room, and clicks on the contact button, and note the starting values.
• Compare changes one at a time, such as a new first sphere, and wait a full week before judging; changing three things at once tells you nothing about the cause.
• Show the owner the numbers in a one-page summary with one picture; owners decide faster with less to read.
• If views are low, check where the link is shared before changing the tour.

Activity. Collect scores, calculate averages and write the decision note.

Standard to meet. Calculate scores correctly and back the decision with numbers.

Common mistake. Quoting only the best score and forgetting the lowest.

Check yourself. What is your lowest score and its reason?

Show your work, learn from others, and plan the next step. You will present your tour for critique, record what others notice, and set concrete targets for your next ninety days of practice.

• Present the space, plan, tour, scores and decision in five minutes.
• Give two peers written feedback: one strength, one fix.
• Get a short written note from one real user.
• Share a checklist or template so the next learner starts higher.
• Hold a 30-minute review room session with the owner and one tester, bring the data page, and leave with three written changes and an owner for each.
• Set three targets for the next 90 days, such as one new space, a 20 percent faster capture routine, and one published case study, and tick them off monthly.
• Keep a "lessons" page for every project; the third tour is always faster than the first.
• Offer a short price list for similar spaces only after the owner and reviewers have seen your finished tour.

Activity. Present, give feedback and write your 90-day plan.

Standard to meet. Give two peer reviews and write a 90-day plan with dates and a measure.

Common mistake. Giving only praise in peer feedback.

Check yourself. What one template or checklist will you share back?

A property owner wants a tour of a shared office. One desk has a visible bank letter and a screen with a customer list.

Question: What do you do before publishing?

Model answer: Stop, remove or blur the letter and screen in every spot where they appear, confirm with the owner, log the fix and re-check the whole tour.

Visitors on mobile data leave a 14-spot tour before it opens. Files total 90 MB.

Question: How do you fix it?

Model answer: Compress images to about 1.5 MB, load the first spot only at start, cut spots to what matters, then retest on slow data until the first spot opens in under 5 seconds.

On the slide: L1 Basic · Basics of looking around

Notes: Explain what a 360-degree image is and view one virtual tour, saying what helps and what confuses. Notes: no tools needed; use a free sample tour on a phone. Standard: five sentences that name two helpful and two confusing features.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Awareness of rights

Notes: Describe consent, privacy and accessibility rules for photographing a space: who must agree, what must be hidden, and how a tour can work for a person who cannot see it. Notes: role-play asking an owner for permission, and read the local rule on photographing people. Standard: a written permission request that a stranger could sign.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Capture and build one tour

Notes: Capture and build one tour of a real space with 6 to 10 linked spots, hidden faces and screens, and a test on two devices. Notes: plan the spots on a floor sketch first, keep the camera height the same, and publish to a private link. Standard: every spot links both ways and a tester finds the way from the entrance to the last spot in under two minutes.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Tours for paying clients

Notes: Quote, schedule and deliver a tour for a small firm, with a written scope, price and delivery date. Notes: work out the price from hours, travel and editing, in your own currency, and add a simple contract with a rights line. Standard: price shows its working, client signs before capture, tour delivered on the agreed date.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Specialist tours

Notes: Produce tours with measured floor plans and an accessibility report for a client, such as step-free routes and door widths. Notes: add measured plans and an access report with photos of each barrier. Standard: measurements within 2 cm and each barrier has a suggested fix.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Advanced studio lead

Notes: Lead a small studio team with a quality system: shot lists, file checks and a rights file for every job. Notes: set standards, train juniors, review rights files and keep a fault log. Standard: no tour is delivered without a checked rights file and a second person's review.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Super expert

Notes: Set method and train trainers. Notes: publish templates, mentor others and review the course yearly.