Royal Caribbean International used TourWrist to show a 360-degree view of an interior space of its newest ship, Quantum of the Seas, at a recent media preview event.

Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD Chairman of the Board and CEO Richard Fain – along with Royal Caribbean International President and CEO, Adam Goldstein  – showed this Quantum of the Seas pano.

“This is cool!” said Fain referring to the use of the TourWrist technology – to display the pano on a big screen wirelessly connected to an iPad via Apple TV. The demo showcased a completely revolutionary space, Two70℠ on Quantum of the Seas using a CAD rendered pano.

“That was amazing,” said Goldstein.

The 360-degree spherical pano was created by 36oiTours in San Diego using 18 CAD rendered images created by Visual Effects and Design Agency Brewster Parsons in Venice, CA. Royal Caribbean has licensed the TourWrist technology (SDK) to integrate the TourWrist pano tech in its apps and websites. Royal Caribbean has engaged Brewster Parsons and 360iTours to publish panos of select ships to TourWrist.

“Brewster Parsons used a virtual camera to shoot the images within the virtual space,” said 360iTours Founder and President Brad Ross. “What’s so amazing about this CAD rendered pano is that it looks just like we shot a pano of the actual space, even though the ship doesn’t exist today.”

“We used the same rendering technology used to create the movie, Avatar,” said Brewster Parsons Creative Director Andrew Eksner. “Even a more advanced version.”  During the media preview event, Fain also announced that the Quantum of the Seas app includes panos powered by TourWrist.  

“We’re excited to see how Royal Caribbean used our technology to showcase an interior space of Quantum of the Seas in their media preview event,” said TourWrist Founder and CEO Charles Armstrong. “It was a great way to tour a space that doesn’t even exist yet.”

Quantum of the Seas begins sailing Fall 2014 from the New York area to the Caribbean and Bahamas.

Video: RCCL Chairman of the Board Richard Fain – along with President Adam Goldstein– showed this Quantum of the Seas pano. Video Courtesy of Royal Caribbean.

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Pano: This Royal Caribbean pano was created by 360iTours using 18 CAD rendered images created by visual effects and design agency Brewster Parsons in Venice, CA (pano courtesy of 360iTours and Brewster Parsons) #70789

TourWrist Disclosure: 360iTours Founder Brad Ross is an investor in TourWrist.

Related

• Tnooz – TourWrist Used by Royal Caribbean to Highlight Features (6/17/13)

With Apple’s upcoming iOS 7 release, panos have been elevated to the same prominence as photos and video. At its annual love-fest WWDC this week, Apple revealed the four modes coming to its redesigned Camera app…

Video  |  Photo  |  Square  |  Pano
The new Square mode yields images similar to Instagram.

Including “Pano” recording here means hundreds of millions of iOS mobile device users will be exposed to the medium. Why “hundreds of millions?” Because Apple also revealed that:

• 600 million iOS devices have been sold since inception; and
• 93 percent of all iOS device use the latest iOS.

While we previously covered  how — in addition to TourWrist — Apple, Microsoft, and Google (including Android OEMs Samsung, HTC and Sony) are promoting mobile panoramic photography; by elevating Pano to the same status as Video and Photo, Apple is now further validating the medium.

[Note: of these companies, only TourWrist licenses its SDK to non–OEMs for full use in apps and websites.]

The thing is; people want to view and share these immersive images – not just record them. The best experience can be found on the multi-award winning TourWrist platform — but today, this requires a multi–step process if you prefer Apple’s pano recording. Imagine the possibilities with direct–to–TourWrist publishing from the Camera app. Much like posting photos to Instagram or videos to YouTube, one–tap publishing would free up more time for living in the moment.

Well, we can dream. Who knows what the future has in Store.

Apple's Camera App: Video, Photos … and Panos! http://t.co/z4z7ukzZP2 #WWDC TY @AppStore

— TourWrist (@TourWrist) June 12, 2013

PostScript

• Video: Hands-On iOS 7 Panoramic Wallpaper – New Hidden Feature

Philippe Bourguignon

“It speaks volumes about the future of TourWrist to have Philippe behind us,” says TourWrist Founder and CEO Charles Armstrong. “With Philippe’s guidance, our aggressive 12 month growth strategy is even more attainable.”

“Charles is a talented and passionate visionary.  He is leading a revolution to help travelers make more confident travel planning and booking decisions,” says Bourguignon. “Travel, hospitality and tourism brands that integrate this democratizing technology into their apps and websites are tapping into a very powerful medium.”

Philippe is one of the most highly regarded executives in the travel industry, with an impressive track record as an innovator and leader. Currently Bourguignon serves as Vice Chairman of Revolution Places LLC and CEO of Exclusive Resorts. Highlights of his career include serving as CEO of Euro Disney and Chairman and CEO of Club Med.

Prior to that, Bourguignon was President of Accor for the Asia/Pacific region and Executive Vice President for North America. Philippe has also served as the co-CEO of the Davos-based World Economic Forum and as a member of the board of directors for a variety of companies including eBay and Zipcar.

Pano: Exclusive Resorts’ The Rocks Club in Scottsdale, AZ. Exclusive Resorts CEO Philippe Bourguignon is a TourWrist Advisor. (#72612)

Banner: Exclusive Resorts Las Residencias Los Cabos, Mexico. Image courtesy of Exclusive Resorts

For example, using my iPhone with iOS 6 panorama, I shot the same scene:

Pano: Shot without an Olloclip lens accessory. (#61703)

Pano: Shot with an Olloclip lens accessory. (#61710)

.While I did not test all 18 pano shooting apps with the Olloclip, depending on which app you use, you may find that the “wide-angle” lens works better than the “fish-eye” lens. For example, this pano looks fine shot with wide-angle, but this one shot with “fish-eye” does not.

If you’re a pro pano photographer and you don’t always have your pro gear with you, the Olloclip fish-eye lens – along with some masking in your pano stitching software – enables you to shoot spherical panos.

For example, using my iPhone with regular camera model, I shot the same scene as above:
Pano shot with an Olloclip Fish-Eye lens – stitched and lightly edited (masking) with PT Gui Pro + lightly edited in Aperture 3 (#61743) Pano shot with an Olloclip Fish-Eye lens – stitched and lightly edited (masking) with PT Gui Pro + no Aperture 3 editing (#61735)

Plus, for this spherical pano, I used 16 of 37 regular images shot in very low light with an iPhone 5 (f2.4 1/15th of a second) with the Olloclip fish-eye lens accessory; post production in Aperture 3, PT Gui Pro and Pano2VR. [Had I shot a zenith and nadir images, I could have eliminated the black holes in the top and bottom of the pano. I guess we'll need to go back to this Tango Vallarta Milonga dance in Puerto Vallarta to re-shoot the spherical pano.]

Video: Olloclip 3-in-1 lens accessory for the iPhone.

Banner: Olloclip iPhone 3-in-one iPhone 5 lens accessory. [Also available for iPhone 4S/4. Image courtesy of Olloclip.

The spherical panos include clickable links — PanoSpots — to enable readers to tour 38 indoor and outdoor spaces at this historic, abandoned property in Atlanta.

“For the Pullman Yard story, we wanted to show readers the majesty of this fenced-off space,” said Creative Loafing News Editor Thomas Wheatley whom also co-authored the Pullman Yard cover story. Part of why it’s such a cool place is that turn-of-the-century architecture of this type is extremely rare in Atlanta.”

“How could we give readers the best experience of viewing this property, detailing its buildings, and imagining its possibilities? You can do that with still photography and video, but if you have the capability of giving readers a fluid, lifelike experience online, where they can explore at their leisure, then it’s worth pursuing, said Wheatley. “Embedding [TourWrist] technology was easy and fit into our template [Foundation made by DesertNet].”

“We were very pleased. I’ve seen panoramic photos before, but never anything with such high resolution and relatively seamless ‘movement’ between different areas,” said Wheatley. “When I discovered how you can view the [TourWrist] images on a mobile device, I was even more surprised. It did exactly what we wanted. It really gives people the chance to get inside the space and observe it as if they’re there.”

Creative Loafing used a combination of “direct” and “pop-up” TourWrist embed code. With “direct” embed code, the pano is already spinning when the reader views the online page. With “pop-up” embed code, the images are static until the reader clicks on the image to “pop-up” and begin spinning (without leaving the page). For the backstory regarding this pano photo shoot, see the Creative Loafing ‘sidebar’ story, So About That 360-Degree Tour of Pullman Yard.

Related

• Creative Loafing – So About That 360-Degree Tour of Pullman Yard …
• TourWrist Blog Post – News Media Enhance Visual Storytelling with Panos

“Michele is our travel industry locksmith,” said TourWrist Founder and CEO Charles Armstrong. “As an authority on the space, Michele’s insight and connections are exposing new strategies and opening new doors.”

Michele Sarkisian joins TourWrist

“When I first saw Charles demo TourWrist, I immediately understood the implications for meeting planning, events and incentive travel programs,” says Michele. Most recently, Michele has served the role of Maritz SVP of Enterprise Solutions Group where she led dozens of senior client advisors responsible for many major accounts.

“Licensable TourWrist tech is a game-changer for travel brands,” says Michele. “It’s obvious how this medium can help travel planners– and travelers. I look forward to working with Charles and the rest of the TourWrist team.”

After 28 years at Maritz, Michele “retired” on April 30th. Her professional plans include serving as an advisor for several companies – including TourWrist – that can benefit from her love and passion for the travel industry.

Michele has a BA from Washington University in St. Louis. She lives in Atlanta and enjoys travel, golf, tennis, scuba and is an avid reader.

Earlier this month, TourWrist announced PhoCusWright Founder Philip Wolf joined the TourWrist Advisor Board.

Banner: Michele Sarkisian at a Hotel Ezra Cornel (HEC) University event in 2012. Image Courtesy of HotelEzraCornell.

Related

by Mike Ficzner

As mobile device usage and web browsing explode, it’s becoming essential for small businesses like Asian Kitchen in Painesville, Ohio to “go mobile and get virtual.” Asian Kitchen could no longer afford to ignore creating a virtual tour and integrating it into its mobile app.  529 App Solutions, a Cleveland based mobile marketing firm, created a dynamic mobile app that works anywhere on any device. The Asian Kitchen App provides quick and easy access to the menu, special offers, and location information for Lake County Ohio’s best Asian restaurant.

Connecting with customers through a virtual tour was the most obvious, and also the most powerful way to showcase the restaurant.  529 App Solutions partnered with TourWrist to make that happen. Using the TourWrist technology, 529 was able to integrate the virtual tour directly into the already existing app.  Having a native mobile app or mobile website allows a small business to connect with customers at anytime, anywhere and on any device. This means that whenever customers want to interact with your business, they can. And the fewer barriers there are to interaction, the higher your sales will go. Those businesses that haven’t gone mobile or virtual are losing opportunities continuously throughout the day from mobile users. On the other hand, small businesses with a mobile virtual presence maximize their opportunities to be found and provide value to customers that are on the go.

Asian Kitchen App Uses TourWrist Technology

The goal is to drive customers to your store, keep them there and keep them coming back. 70 percent of people contact a business after a search on their mobile device.  If your business’s virtual presence appears among search results, and is easy to navigate, chances are good that you’ll be getting more store traffic and leads from it. If not, you may be somewhat invisible to customers that are out and about. Ensure that you are aware of customers’ out-of-store mobile experiences, and adopt platforms, like TourWrist, that reduce the risk of being invisible by going virtual.

Bad mobile experiences are expensive to small businesses. 57 percent of users won’t recommend a business if they don’t like the business’s mobile site, 66 percent won’t return to the site if it gives them trouble, and 40 percent will ultimately head on to a competitor site. If your site isn’t optimized for mobile users and does not have a virtual presence, consider it probable that users are having a bad experience on it. Gets your mobile experience working smoothly with a TourWrist virtual tour and you not only get increased business, but you’ll get referrals from happy customers!

About 529 App Solutions

529 App Solutions focuses on providing mobile App solutions to businesses in the travel and tourism industries.  The whole community approach focus is on Convention and Visitor Bureaus and their Eat-Shop-Stay establishments.  529:App Solutions uses multiple emerging technologies in order to give its hospitality clients an edge in the fast growing mobile market and to enhance clients’ marketability while dramatically increasing revenues and reducing costs. The 529:App Solutions mission is to develop a financially disciplined business that leads the travel and tourism world in providing superior mobile marketing solutions to all local businesses and communities. The agency’s vision is to be recognized as a world class leader in mobile marketing solutions for entrepreneurs, businesses and local communities, utilizing cutting-edge technologies and enterprise software systems.  529:App Solutions is a veteran and women owned small business.  (www.529apps.com)

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Pano: Asian Kitchen app  integrates TourWrist. Pano Courtesy of 529 App Solutions (#60296)

Banner: Asian Kitchen App. Image Courtesy of Asian Kitchen and 529 App Solutions.

“With Philip’s expertise in travel distribution strategy, technology and innovation, TourWrist will continue to relentlessly pursue our vision of becoming the ubiquitous solution for pano delivery within the travel, tourism and hospitality space,” said TourWrist Founder and CEO Charles Armstrong. “It’s a powerful statement about the future of TourWrist to have Philip join our team.”

Philip Wolf Joins TourWrist

“Technology and innovation have unleashed new power for travelers,” said Philip. “Travel brands must leverage that power and constantly solve new and difficult customer needs. Charles is a visionary helping travelers make more confident booking decisions. Even before TourWrist swept the awards at The Travel Innovation Summit @ The PhoCusWright Conference, from Charles’ demo, I could visualize how TourWrist could help hotels, cruise lines, vacation rental platforms, OTAs and travel destinations.”

“I look forward to helping polish an already outstanding TourWrist platform,” said Philip. 

After nearly 20 years of building a global brand – the premier source of travel, tourism and hospitality intelligence – Philip sold PhoCusWright in a strategic and complimentary deal to Northstar Travel Media, LLC in 2011.

In addition to TourWrist, Wolf is on the Board of Advisors of: DataArt, Net Trans and ODIGEO. Wolf is on the Board of Directors of: Dashbell, Inntopia, Hopper, MakeMyTrip.com, OKTOGO.RU and QuickMobile.

Prior to PhoCusWright, he was president of CEO of Travelmation, a venture-funded software developer and travel booking engine pioneer, later sold to Rosenbluth International.  In addition to the sale of PhoCusWright and Travelmation, other transactions include the sale of TravelJigsaw (board director) to Priceline (2010); MakeMyTrip (board director) floating on NASDAQ (2010); and Sale of Newtrade (chairman) to Expedia (2002).

Philip has an MBA from Vanderbilt University and a BA, Magna Cum Laude from Duke University.

Related

• Tnooz – TourWrist Snags Philip Wolf to Join Advisor Board
• TourWrist Blog Post – Michele Sarkisian, 28-Year Maritz Veteran, Joins TourWrist Board

Banner: Philip Wolf speaking at the World Travel & Tourism Council 12th Annual Global Summit in Tokyo in April 2012. Image Courtesy of WTTC.

“We would like to invite you as a leader in this space where you can share your point of view with our attendees,” said Ataway Exchange Events General Manager Ben Isenberg in his TourWrist invite.

Armstrong will participate in the Social Disruptors panel 9:15 am (5/15) led by Tnooz CEO and Co-Founder Gene Quinn. Other panelists for this session are:

• PunchTab Founder and CEO Ranjith Kumaran
• IZEA Founder and CEO Ted Murphy
• Social Flow CEO and Co-Founder Mike Perrone

“TourWrist technology marks a clear opportunity for hotels, cruise lines, vacation rental platforms and travel destinations,” said Armstrong. “And for those who prefer to wait and learn, it can also be a warning sign. When presented with disruptive innovation, you’re either leading the way to helping travelers make more confident travel plans – or your competitor is.”

TourWrist Founder and CEO Charles Armstrong. Image Courtesy of American Airlines

Hundreds of digital marketers from hotels, cruise lines, vacation rental platforms, tourism organizations and Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) will attend the two-day annual conference and exhibition.

In addition to Armstrong, speakers include: 

In this post, we’re highlighting what’s possible purely within the news media space. Namely, newspapers and magazines (including travel, hospitality, tourism, boats, cars, destination weddings, honeymoons, skiing, yachting and photography).

The Wall Street Journal Adds Panos to its Apps, Online

We expect that news media is but a couple of years away from mainstream visual storytelling through 360-degree panos. And the marketing side of the news? It may actually be the first to implement as progressive players discover new revenue generation through panos.

For the news division, visual storytelling enabled by the TourWrist pano technology is both a threat and an opportunity. On both sides, this medium will motivate test-and-learn/proof of concept integration led by innovators in traditional news media organizations — those who are visualizing today a future sans paper, ink, printing presses and truck-rolls.

• Opportunity for News Media – Panos will mark a competitive advantage for news media apps and websites as they grow audiences through enhanced visual storytelling.

• Threat for News Media – We’ve seen it before; a disruptive technology forces slow-to-adopt competitors to play catch-up. Each time, history has proven it hard — or impossible — for late adopters to regain their audiences. And if you look at where things are headed, it’s pretty easy to see why the early movers are already building pano delivery strategies. Look first for those who appear content with pdf syndication of their print editions rather than leveraging the unique capabilities of modern mobile tech. Last we checked, printed newspapers were not including motion, geolocation, or optical sensors, nor were they adequately or appropriately leveraging social channels.

In the not too distant future, readers/viewers will expect to touch, click, flick or walk into – or around – any image. People will be frustrated by photos that are cropped — like the banner above compared to the pano below (the same space delivered under different paradigms).

As TourWrist Founder and CEO Charles Armstrong sees the future: “It’s obvious that we’re increasingly moving toward transparency in all forms of media. Why then would a selectively cropped presentation depicting “reality” smell of anything other than deception? We want the full picture, and in the next decade, we’ll expect it.”

Video: a magazine is an iPad that does not work

If you watch this 4+ million views YouTube video of a baby playing with an iPad and with a magazine, its obvious that “a magazine is an iPad that does not work.” [The baby's parent writes: "Technology codes our minds, changes our OS. Apple products have done this extensively. The video shows how magazines are now useless and impossible to understand, for digital natives. It shows real life clip of a 1-year-old, growing among touch screens and print. And how the latter becomes irrelevant. Medium is message. Humble tribute to Steve Jobs, by the most important person : a baby.]

Whether the motivation for news media to embrace TourWrist record, view and share pano technology is a threat or opportunity, here’s how news media will leverage the TourWrist SDK to integrate this tech in their apps and online:

360-Degree Perspectives as Unedited Viewing Experiences

• Breaking News Coverage – Unlike photos and videos that are edited views, and videos that are also edited views which take more time to view, 360-degree spherical panos enable consumers to immerse themselves in news events from any perspective. For example, try using a mobile device to view this pano.
• Sports – On the field, court, stadium and track
• Celebrities – Coverage of celebrities, Hollywood, press events and red carpet events
• Television/Film/Music – Behind the scenes of TV shows, TV specials and movie stars and onstage with musicians
• Events – Concerts and special events attended by thousands or tens of thousands of people
• Travel – Helping travelers get there before they go, whether the destination is a hotels, cruise line, vacation rental or geographic destination
• Real Estate – Marketing commercial and residential real estate listings
• Automobile – The interiors of autos
• Boats – The interiors of boats

Pano:  ”Demonstration against the collapse of the economy and unemployment caused by the rules imposed by the ‘troika’ (IMF, ECB, EC),” according to CFranco. Pano courtesy of CFranco. (#67273)

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Related

• TourWrist Blog Post – Newspapers – 10 TourWrist Ideas
• TourWrist Blog Post – Future Arrives Early: WSJ Adds 360 Panos to iPad App, Online
• TourWrist Blog Post – Venture Beat ♥ TourWrist Panos (online publication 360-pano embed example)
• TourWrist Blog Post – Tnooz Brings Lates Funding Round to $1.25M; Heavyweights Liking the 360-Degree Views (online publication 360-pano embed example)

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Banner: Demonstration again the collapse of the economy and unemployment in Portugal. Image Courtesy of CFranco