The World Wide Panorama

Press Releases

20050705
July 5, 2005
Berkeley, California, USA

Water - A World Wide Panorama

Over the last year almost 500 photographers, working independently in more than 40 countries, have been building a unique and intriguing web site known as the World Wide Panorama, begun in March, 2004. It consist of images known as VR panoramas - photographs that go all the way around the viewer. Using technology called QuickTime VR (© Apple Computer) the images on screen can be rotated with the mouse to look in any direction.

The World Wide Panorama site grows every three months with a new event, a coordinated worldwide photo shoot with a theme. For this event, shooting on the week of the Solstice (longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, first day of summer), the theme was simply "water", and 260 participants contributed images from 46 countries.

The range of subject matter is fascinating - waterfalls, fountains, springs, rivers, lakes, dams, canals, waterworks, aquariums, boats, bathrooms, and swimming pools.

A few of the highlights: Victor Zaveduk takes us inside the Crown Fountain in Chicago; Wil Brugman is in a car wash in the Netherlands; Bostjan Burger shows us an underground river in Slovenia; Bernhard Vogl has a cave filled with ice in Austria; Sachio Izumi captured fireflies over a river in Japan; Inaki Rezola is in a walk-through aquarium in Spain; Michael Stoss is on a traditional wooden ship in Germany; Bryant Arnett has kids in a swimming pool in California; Gerardo Sanchez invites us for lunch in Venezuela; Rolf Ris shows us the great Rhine Falls in Switzerland; Andrey Ilyin had a rainy day in Moscow; and Simon Maguire has trouble at a water fountain in Australia.

Visit the World Wide Panorama at WorldWidePanorama.com. In addition to "water" there are also previous events featuring "marketplace", "sanctuary", "bridges", "world heritage" and the original World Wide Panorama event.

The site features 1200 VR panoramas by 500 different photographers. It is easy to navigate, with a clickable world map, lists by name and by geographic region, plus a panorama of the day, and a new random panorama offered every few seconds. Reflecting its international nature, the home page is available in fifteen languages.

The World Wide Panorama is hosted by the Geo-Images Project, at the University of California Berkeley. For more information contact Don Bain (dbain@berkeley.edu), or Landis Bennett (landis@360Geographics.com).