Be Creative!
How will you ensure that virtual visitors are able to access all parts of the exhibit?
Sometimes, what works well for a physical viewer needs a creative touch for it to be explored as part of a VR experience.
​
Here are some examples
from our experience:
​
The May Massee
VR Experience
We wanted to combine photographs and text in a single hotspot. Which worked with the software; however, the text was tough to read. The solution was to use Photoshop to create a new image with both the photograph and the text on a solid background. This image was added to the hotspot. It looks great and is easy to read.
​
The Literary World
of William Allen White
In the physical exhibit, we used flat display cases to create a timeline of White's published books. It was difficult to look down into the cases while in the VR experience, and adding hotspots for each book -- 24! -- was not a good option. Our solution was to create an online timeline of the books using Timeline JS. This is a free resource that we've used for other projects. The program generates a link, which we inserted into an interactive hotspot; clicking on the icon opens the timeline, and visitors can access all of the intellectual and visual content available to physical visitors.
​
Circles of Influence:
William Allen White in
His World and Ours
How could we share a notebook of letters written by children's book authors? We used a free flipbook maker to duplicate the physical experience of turning pages in a binder. This creates a virtual experience similar to that of physical visitors.
​
​
Photographs - 360 and Still Images​
​
Create and collect all of the photographic images you will need to create the VR experience.
​
360 Images
-
Turn the camera on and set it in the space you are filming
-
Be sure it is securely attached to the tripod
-
The camera should be at the height from which you'd like the visitor to see the experience (eye level, ground, as if sitting, etc.)
-
Face the camera toward the first thing visitors should see when entering the virtual room
-
Is the camera level? (visually check this using the phone's view screen; there isn't a level on the camera)
-
-
Access the Gear 360 app via the smart phone
-
You'll see the camera's view
-
Use the options on the phone to take multiple 360 photographs
-
It's good practice to take more images than you'll need!
-
Each photograph is ready in a few seconds.
-
You can view the images using the phone.
-
Make adjustments to the physical space if needed.
-
You may want to experiment with putting the tripod in different places. Which perspective do you like best?
-
-
-
-
Download the images from the camera to the phone. The multiple images created by the 360 camera will stitch together during this process, creating one 360 image.
-
Download the images from the phone onto the desktop computer.
-
Edit the photographs with ActionDirector, if desired.
-
This step is optional. In our experience, the images did not need editing.
-
​
Still Images
-
Take photographs of display cases
-
Sometimes it is difficult to view items in display cases closely. Still images of the contents can be added as hotspots, which gives the virtual viewer a better view of these items.
-
Opening the display case doors or removing vitrines, when possible, helps reduce glare in the photographs.
-
Take more photographs than you anticipate using! They often look different on the computer than they do on a camera screen.
-
-
Take photographs of physical features to highlight during the virtual tour
-
These images are good candidates for hotspots.
-
-
Save information panels as .jpg.
-
InstaVR doesn't offer a .pdf option when addingstill images as hotspots. An online pdf-to-jpg converter can be used to convert formats; there are free options available. Larger information panels may need to be photographed if the files are bigger than the conversion system allows.
-