Existing users, 
Mapwing Web Viewer
display virtual tours in web pages
Version: 1.6
Not very, well, virtual
Feedback Type: Commentary
Contributed by: hueco Friday, November 18 2005 @ 02:33 AM PST
Product Platform: MacOSX
Used Product For: Have Not Tried
This is pretty misleading advertising. They throw around words like "virtual" tours and "virtual" reality when the fact is that the Mapwing concept is nothing but a packaged slideshow. "Virtual" in these contexts -- tours and reality -- is usually reserved for interactive 360-degree panoramas displayed with QuickTime, Java or OpenGL to change the pano projection on the fly in the viewer. This viewer is in fact a very basic pop-up website using Flash and PHP ("authoring" available for $295) with exactly zero "virtuality." Anyone seriously considering this item should do some more research. There are plenty of better solutions available for free or a tiny fraction of this price.
Virtual by definition... - Redbug
Hi Hueco..."Virtual tours", according to the Wikipedia definition, should "...evoke the sense of moving or walking through the location." By that definition, I believe Mapwing is quite virtual. In many ways, the Mapwing system has distinct advantages over existing panorama solutions, since it puts more focus on the walkthrough than a perfect panorama. Mapwing tours are also very easy to create and require no special equipment beyond a digital camera.
As for Flash comments, well, Mapwing tours can be viewed with OpenGL too. The nice thing about Mapwing Flash Viewer is that you can use Flash to display tours if you so desire. This is great for those individuals worried about plug-ins and web browser issues. Unlike QTVR and Java, the vast majority of users have Flash installed.
Cheers...
Reply to This
Sunday, January 22 2006 @ 08:16 AM PST