A virtual tour presents a space as seen from several related viewpoints. A visitor can explore the whole space by moving from viewpoint to viewpoint, using links provided by the panographer. Four common kinds of links are “next/previous” buttons that show the images in a predefined sequence; “hot spots” that let you move to a viewpoint whose location is visible in the current image; “thumbnail” images that let you select the next view by its appearance; and markers on a map or floor plan, that let you navigate geographically. The tours below demonstrate all four methods.
WYCK HOUSE AND GARDEN
Built around 1690 in Germantown, Wyck was home to the same Quaker family for over 250 years. Its present form is due to an 1824 renovation by Greek Revivalist architect William Strickland. It has been host to Audubon, Lafayette and many other notables, and was once the official residence of the US Ambassador to Mexico (who refused to leave Philadelphia). Now a house and garden museum, Wyck is locally famous for its rose garden.
This tour can be navigated by clicking the white hot spots or the thumbnail images.
HISTORIC FAIRHILL BURIAL GROUND
This old Quaker cemetery in North Philadelphia holds the graves of many 19th century abolitionists, most notably Lucretia Mott. After a period of severe neglect in the late 20th century, Fairhill was cleaned up and is now a park and community garden, largely managed by its neighbors.
This tour has pop-up labels and 4 modes of navigation: forward/back buttons; hot-spots; thumbnail images; and tall markers on a Google map of the neighborhood. Don’t miss the 4 murals on nearby streets.
LITTLE CRESSON STREET
An obscure dead-end street on the wrong side of the tracks in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia, Little Cresson is the kind of place that interests me. I made this tour one day as a break from the hard work of stitching stereoscopic panoramas of Italy. Shooting and producing it took less time than one of those stitches.
This simple tour can be navigated by the next and previous buttons or by clicking thumbnail images.
Images were once viewable in VR via the obsolete webVR API. An upgraded player could make that possible again.
HAWTHORNE HALL
Built in West Philadelphia in 1895 as an event space and vaudeville theater, Hawthorne Hall later housed shops, residences and a church before most of it fell into disuse. There have been sporadic efforts to revive the old theater space, one of which was underway when I took these pictures in the winter of 2013.
The front page is a flat image of the building’s façade, the arrows point to panoramas in the interior. The ‘home’ icon at upper left returns to the front page. Click the white triangle to reveal a navigation bar with thumbnails and next/previous buttons.