Did you know that it is now possible to produce 360° images taken from the sky? This technique, which we developed in 2013, allows your customers to position themselves directly above your facilities and to look everywhere around them. It is an unparalleled visualization and immersion tool that allows an exhilarating form of interactivity to further engage your viewers, by giving them a sample of the experience you will give them when they visit.
The benefit of 360° capture compared to traditional aerial photo and video is the integration of an interactive element into your presentation, which allows the visitor to control some of the parameters of their virtual experience, so it feels more tailored. You can make this kind of content available on your Google Maps profile, but also directly on your website. Integration is just as easy as with any regular photos or videos.
An aerial virtual tour is the natural extension of the 360° aerial panorama. Thanks to the technologies available on Google Street View, it is now possible to link a multitude of 360° aerial panoramas into a single constellation of dots that the visitor can browse at leisure, same as with a classic virtual tour, flying from one point to the next to discover different locations and facilities within your company and its landscape.
An Aerial Virtual Tour integrates fully into the Google ecosystem, to enrich your Google My Business and Google Maps profiles. This improves the quality of your SEO, since every step of your visit on which a visitor click is counted as a view, and extends the average time he spends on your listing. It is, of course, also possible to integrate this visit directly on your website.
Thanks to the latest technological advances in aerial imagery, it is now possible to capture complete panoramas from a drone. By multiplying these panoramas, it is therefore also possible to build virtual tours without the limitation of ground level capture. It is a natural extension to classic Google Street View tours, as aerial virtual tours integrate the same way into Google My Business profiles.
A campsite, a resort, a park, a golf course, a construction site, a commercial development project, a ski resort; for large areas, an aerial virtual tour is a good complement to the classic ground-level virtual tour. While the ground visit shows the details of a location, the drone visit gives an overview and therefore an idea of the general layout of buildings, lots, tracks or parcels as well as the routes linking these elements together. It is also the best way to communicate the full scale and character of an imposing construction or of a vast parcel of land.
Virtual tours and aerial imagery are not new. Each of these techniques offers unique advantages. Immersion for one and a certain sense of grandeur for the other. The blending of the two offers an additional advantage: time; because the user experience is not limited by the fixed duration of an aerial video. When he browses the tour, he can stop at each step, for as long as he wants, and look everywhere around him, thereby increasing the duration of his immersion, but also the quality of it.
A 360-degree virtual tour is the best way to show a piece of land or a building in its direct environment. The forest adjacent to a campsite, the lake near a park, the highways around a commercial development project, the shops around a new residential area. In addition to showing the potential guest all the natural charms of a holiday resort, the aerial virtual tour is also a precious tool for potential investors and buyers who are looking to contextualize an area and quickly visualize its commercial potential.
An aerial virtual tour presents an interesting melting pot of the unique benefits of photography, video, and aerial 360° panoramas. It's a fully interactive customer experience that allows your clients to visit your business and its facilities. It's a simple, elegant and transparent way to showcase your company for your customers by giving them a unique virtual experience of your facilities, wherever they are in the world. It's also an effective way to engage their senses and grab their attention, spurring their active participation while giving them an idea of who you are.
The Mavic Pro is one of the lightest, smallest and sturdiest drones on the market. In terms of image quality and maximum flight time, it is similar to the Phantom, but does not allow such complex or varied flight programs. For video capture, it's one of the best choices out there, but for more sophisticated applications like geomatics we will prefer the Phantom 4 Pro or the Phantom 4 RTK.
The little brother of the Inspire is a lighter drone, with better autonomy that retains a very high image quality. For all your needs of aerial imagery, the quality of the content produced by this drone is suitable for almost any commercial project.
The most advanced UAV in our fleet. It offers the best picture quality and unparalleled flexibility in terms of lenses you can use and the field of view they can provide. If you're looking for the sharpest images, the richest colors, the biggest flexibility in your composition and framing, and a decisively cinematic look, the Inspire Pro DJI will marvel you with the quality and accuracy of the images it produces.
How is a 360-image made?
A 360 image is in fact a collage of several views taken on a complete horizontal axis rotation. For the stitching to work properly, it is important that each image contains a common portion with the image that follows and the one that precedes, so that the software can understand how to join the images together. For example, for a typical 360 aerial photography, 32 different images are used in the final composite.
Is there a limit to the distance that can be covered?
Although the average flight time capacity of a drone is 30 minutes, a simple battery replacement allows the pilot to carry on with the capture. With several batteries charging at base while the drone is in the air, it is therefore possible to shoot all day, and cover the entire area needed for a project. We will advise you on the optimal distance between each capture point so that the visit remains fluid and enjoyable.
Do aerial virtual tours require “Nadir” masking?
No. In a classic virtual tour, a tripod or a vehicle is used to secure the camera in place, be it a DSLR or a 360 camera. Because of this, if one looks completely at the bottom of a panorama taken at ground level, tripod legs or the roof of the vehicle are visible. This is called the “Nadir”, and it’s traditionally covered by a logo. In the case of drone captured panoramas, there is no obstruction which prevents seeing the ground in its entirety, and therefore, there is no “Nadir” to be covered.
On the other hand, as the drone camera is located under the device, it is the sky which is obstructed. This is called the “Zenith”, however, it is much easier to camouflage than a typical Nadir, as the sky has quite a simple texture. We maintain an image bank of several different sky textures, which allows us to easily mask the Zenith in our aerial panoramas.
Are aerial 360 virtual tours compatible with Google Maps?
In terms of the final image format, there is no difference between panoramas taken using a DSLR, a 360 camera or a drone. Therefore, the integration of aerial virtual tours in Google My Business, Google Maps or directly on your website is done in the same way as for any standard virtual tour.
What happens in case of bad weather?
For safety and logistical reasons, we prefer to postpone a flight in the event of strong winds, rainfall or snowfall. Strong winds will affect the stability of the drone and precipitations can cause technical breakdowns as commercial drones are not designed to perform in wet environments. There are also aesthetic reasons to postpone a flight, as any facility or landscape will look more attractive on a sunny day.