THE EIFFEL TOWER: FULLSCREEN VIRTUAL TOUR
by Michelle Bienias
If you’ve never been to the Eiffel Tower, or you have and would like to revisit it, this web site is a must-visit. It includes everything one could possibly want to know or see of the Tower in a variety of formats: written text, cubic VRs, videos of New Year’s Eve fireworks, 3D representation, postcards, games and a virtual exhibition gallery of Wojtek Korsak, whomever he may be.
All the cubic VRs are taken from different points in and around the Tower - the esplanade underneath the Tower, the Jules Verne restaurant, to Gustav Eiffel’s office at the top – I counted 19 cubic VRs in total, including 6 taken at night. The VRs were taken by VR veteran Denis Gliksman and are available in both low and high definition Java and Quicktime VR versions.
The really innovative portion of this site is viewing the Tower in 3D (requires a Cult 3D plug-in), from any angle, navigating between the floors and in and out of the structure in 3D. It takes a bit of getting used to managing the mouse to zoom in and out, left and right while either clicking the left or right mouse buttons, or both simultaneously, but once this is mastered (and it will probably take you a lot less time than it did me) the feeling of moving through the floors and looking about is quite incredible.
The site also includes a wealth of information about the Tower: access times, restaurants, what to see and an FAQ. There’s also a page on the structure of the Tower and its evolution and even the blueprints of Monsieur Eiffel himself. I can’t imagine what anyone would want to know about or see of the Tower that isn’t included right at this site. Except, of course, feeling the cool breeze as one stands on a viewing platform gazing on the City of Lights below.
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