Sneak Peek of a Virtual Gallery Visit

By Brian Boyle, ROM Senior Photgrapher.

In celebration of Dinomania! this weekend, we wanted to share details about a new technique we are experimenting with in the photo studio.  Recently, I began to explore how the ROM could use emerging technologies to provide virtual tours of our galleries (if you haven’t already heard about the Google Art Project, take a look!)

We are quite excited to give you a sneak peek at our latest virtual tour of the James and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of Dinosaurs (still a work in progress so forgive the rough edges).

Take the Virtual Tour

Click on the image to take a virtal tour of the ROM's James and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of Dinosaurs

Follow the link to our virtual tour of the Temerty Gallery [please note the link is no longer active.  We are working on a new version of the virtual tour]. You will see white circles at various points throughout the gallery; these are links which will move on to the next view of the gallery. In total there are five pans – all are interconnected in a loop.

How I did it
Because the Temerty Gallery is spacious and the specimens are large, I selected the dinosaurs as a starting point for each of the five views. I set my camera at a fixed point on a tripod and circle the gallery taking a still pictures at regular intervals, careful not to change the camera settings.  Back in the studio, I merged the images using digital software into a seamless 360 degree view.

I hope you enjoy the tour and let us know what you think.