Since a few years ago, some bunisesses among them real estate brokers used 360° pictures to illustrate their websiste.  One good solution is proposed by Egg Solutions. For around 500 EUR, you can get a lens and a software which allows you to take 360° photos and export them in flash.

www.photosynth.net

For those who prefer to outsource this job, there are several professional photographs in the market to take 360° pictures.

Since 2007, Microsoft is working on a new solution called Photosynth. With this solution, you can produce 360° pictures from standard photos.

But Microsoft went a step further: by arranging photos in a 3-D environment, it lets people zoom around and view a scene from different perspectives using the cinematic quality of a movie and the control of a video game.

Following a real-estate broker, Photosynth offers a much more sophisticated way of communicating a space than even high-end virtual tools.

Photosynth Real Estate Example

Go to photosynth website to see some examples.  You will see how this technology is outstanding.  For a professional use, check this Real Estate example (left caption).

Photosynth promises a new way to present a lot of stuff.  From real estate to museum, applications can bevery wide.

But as with all new technology, the quality of the results depends on the way to use it.

This could be a good business idea: to start a photo studio specialised in this technology and to propose this service to Real Estate Brokers, Museum, Parks, Car Brokers, etc.  If you are ambitious, you can imagine a chain of ‘Photosynth’ studios