Comments on: Virtual Tours on Microsoft’s Photosynth

By: Fred Light

Fred Light — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:41:36 +0000

Personally, I’m online ALL day long, view videos all day long and have used Silverlight maybe ONCE? I would not say it has any market penetration whatsoever. I would still call it OBSCURE. 99% of the public has never even heard of it.

And as far as trusting a download from a well known company such as Microsoft, I’m not sure that’s all so compelling either. Microsoft’s Internet Exploder is making news worldwide.

“Users of all current versions of Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer browser might be vulnerable to having their computers hijacked because of a serious security hole in the software that had yet to be fixed Monday.
The flaw lets criminals commandeer victims’ machines merely by tricking them into visiting Web sites tainted with malicious programming code. As many as 10,000 sites have been compromised since last week to exploit the browser flaw, according to antivirus software maker Trend Micro Inc.”

I don’t care how good this is (and I am unable to see it even WITH a download), I think putting up so many barriers for viewing would be a HUGE mistake. Huge.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:26:14 +0000

There is now a Silverlight version of the viewer available on the Photosynth website. A couple of people noted that downloading anything will put people off your site, I would put Silverlight in a different category that it is a download once use many times application, plus Silverlight already has great market penetration even after only a short release time. The Silverlight team has made a big effort to making the install as quick and painless as possible and I think it is one area that if there is a compelling user scenario people will download something especially from a well known company such as Microsoft. I know when I was looking for a house something like this would have been great, even just the ability of the 2D view to quickly view many images without having to click next, next, next etc makes this a compelling presentation medium.

By: Martin Bouma

Martin Bouma — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:19:51 +0000

It’s neat new tool, and I look forward to trying it out. But, like Fred Light stated above it does seem a bit old fashion to have a have someone download a whole new program to see one tour.

By: TegoV - Albuquerque Real Estate

TegoV - Albuquerque Real Estate — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:40:51 +0000

I agree that this is cool technology but think from a marketing standpoint it doesn’t add anything that a video or good slide show will give you. But… it looks fun, so I will give it a spin.

By: Wilmington NC Real Estate

Wilmington NC Real Estate — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:25:25 +0000

Ok. I can’t see Photosynth being an end to other web tour tools (360 pano and video), but I absolutely think this can be a cool tool for real estate listings. When I first saw Photosynth, I immediately thought how cool it would be to stitch photos that would be able tour the yard and exterior of a house. Then to be able to go inside, zoom into a high res photo of the hard wood floor or the fireplace or the high end kitchen faucet (allowing an inspection of the property – maybe even the neighborhood around the house). I don’t believe it would have a broad appeal (”Aunt Tillie”?). But I am never upset when I (as a real estate agent) generate a lead from the geeky tech savy world. If a photosynth tour helped me connect with someone on the web from a lead generation standpoint, I am happy.

By: Fred Light

Fred Light — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:45:19 +0000

To eliminate a portion of your audience who are on Macs which are NOT compatible is bad marketing. Period,. Secondly, to force a consumer to download a program, install it, and navigate back to your site is very 1990s…. people don’t put up with that anymore – except your hard core geeks who want to see everything new. “Aunt Tillie” who is shopping for a home on her older machine with AOL that her nephew gave her 3 years ago is NOT going to bother with any of this.

Flash is compatible with 98%++ of ALL computers. The only reason Microsoft avoids Flash is because of their competing product, SilverLight (what? what’s that?)

Microsoft is becoming more and more out of touch (all you have to do is watch their new ads… for shoes? I don’t even understand them……… It’s cool technology (maybe… I can’t see it to honestly say)… but it’s not going to fly for real estate.

By: Teresa Boardman

Teresa Boardman — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:58:33 +0000

I tried this a few weeks ago because I read that it is so amazing. I was able to get one wide angle shot that looks kind of cool in it. So far for representing my listings the clarity of the photos created with this is not good enough.

By: Photography For Real Estate » Microsoft’s Photosynth Not Ready For Real Estate Virtual Tours

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:23:00 +0000

[...] to use this technology to create tours (warning only PC users can see these tours). And there are people promoting it’s use in real [...]

By: Andrew Mattie

Andrew Mattie — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:36:33 +0000

I suppose it depends on who your target audience is. Me personally, I’d rather explore the interior spaces of a home on my own through something like Photosynth than through a video that might go too fast through some areas and not give me as much of a sense of dimensional perspective of the interior as this does.

By: Scott Hack

Scott Hack — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:39:18 +0000

Maybe I’m missing the point, by why not just go ahead and put together a video?