Cyberpresse (which just started playing music on my laptop without permission) is putting up 360-degree photos on its website: already one of a snowy Gilford St. shovelling on de Mentana St., and a truck accident on Cremazie Blvd.
It’s just another example of how big media companies like Cyberpresse understand the Internet and are prepared to use cutting-edge 1994 technology* to bring things that are cool but uninformative to users. (The last picture is particularly apt at showing the weaknesses of the technology: a truck accident is shown from only one angle — it’s great that I can see out in different directions, but I can’t see the other side of the truck.)
*Actually, it’s a Flash-based emulator of cutting-edge 1994 technology, but otherwise indistinguishable from Quicktime VR (right down to the unintuitive navigation).
I disagree on your view about these 360 images. I’ve seen some on the New York Times at the olympics at Beijing and some at The Gazette on a Jazz concert in Montreal. I think that this is cool and informative as well. I also like the shots on Cyberpresse. I think this brings a new dimension in the medias.
New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/21/sports/olympics/20080821_10M_DIVING.html?hp