Hi
One of the benefits of a detailed Virtual Tour must surely be from an Accessibility point of view.
One of the Virtual Tours that Richard undertook was a Bunkhouse in Brechfa, Wales. The owner Gilly was telling him that very often groups such as Scouts had to send along someone to do a Risk Assessment and check that Health and Safety and Accessibility facilities were in order.
So when Richard was doing the photography of the Bunkhouse he took still images of the various Safety notices and Regulations, then inserted them into the Virtual Tour with hotspots, so when someone clicked on a hotspot a still image of the notice could be read by whoever was considering booking.
Other features such as Fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, heat detectors and outside taps were highlighted on the Virtual Tour. (Click here to view)
The importance of Virtual Tours in regards to Accessibility and Health and Safety has maybe not been utilised as much as it could be and I think this is a great way to go. Also for wheelchair users things like floor level entry showers, room layouts and wider doors can be observed.
Far more efficient than still photography, no matter how arty-farty (scuse my French LOL) the production! :o)