The event was sponsored by the Geography Computing Facility at the University of California Berkeley. This site is hosted by The Geo-Images Project. This is a non-commercial project, done simply to create enthusiasm for VR photography, and provide an outlet for our collective creativity.

On March 20, 2004, 180 photographers from 40 countries around the world celebrated the Equinox by creating VR panoramas. The panoramas from this event are now presented on a web site – the March 2004 World Wide Panorama.

Photographers worldwide are now invited to join together on the Solstice, June 19-20-21, 2004, for another coordinated VR photography event. The theme this time will be World Heritage, inspired by Tito Dupret's project to document UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The plan is simple:
– on the specified days, June 19-20-21, shoot one or more VR panoramas
– your subject can be a UNESCO World Heritage Site, or your own nomination of a world heritage site
– prepare at least one panorama in QuickTime format over the following week
– submit the QuickTime and supporting information by June 28th
– a preliminary version of the site will be ready by July 2nd

This is a non-profit project, intended to promote VR photography, provide a showcase for the work of VR photographers, extend VR coverage of World Heritage Sites, and promote cross-linking of sites featuring VR photography. All materials submitted will be copyright by the original photographer and no further use will be made of them without the photographer's permission.

The event is sponsored by the Geography Computing Facility, University of California Berkeley. The site will be hosted by The Geo Images Project. The organizers are Don Bain and Landis Bennett.

Full-screen panoramas presented on this site will also be accessible via thumbnails on the Fullscreen QTVR site.

All panoramas of official UNESCO World Heritage Sites will be listed on Tito Dupret's World Heritage Tour site.

Background:
Many of you will be aware of Tito Dupret's project to photograph (including VR photographs) UNESCO World Heritage Sites. He has been traveling for several years, producing amazing panoramas of Angkor in Cambodia, the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, many places in China, and most recently in Sri Lanka. Tito's site, WHTour is rapidly becoming an outstanding archive of images of our common cultural heritage.

But Tito could use some help -- there are 754 officially designated sites, scattered all around the world. So he has invited us to join him in this project. The combined talents of the World Wide Panorama participants can make a huge contribution, all in one weekend.

What if you are eager to participate, but don't have an official world heritage site close enough? No problem, you are free to select anywhere that you deem to fit the theme of "World Heritage".

About World Heritage:
There are 754 officially designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites, where they are listed by region and country. The sites have been selected by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization). The sites are scattered widely over the surface of the earth. Since the definition of world heritage includes natural landscapes as well as man-made ones, there are sites in both heavily populated regions and remote areas. They celebrate world cultures from the neolithic to relatively recent times. Some are single buildings, many are entire historic towns or city centers, some are long abandoned.

New sites are continuously being evaluated and added to the list - 25 last year, more to be announced at the next official meeting in July, 2004.

The theme of the panorama shoot is world heritage, not just UNESCO World Heritage sites. If you can make it to one of the official sites for the Solstice, by all means do so. But if you cannot, you are free to photograph your idea of an important heritage site.

How to Join:
You don't actually have to join anything – just shoot on the Solstice and submit in the proper format by June 28. But to keep everyone informed as the project progresses, and to let us know about the participants, we ask everyone to join the WWP group on Yahoo Groups. This will get you on our mailing list and allow you to communicate with others involved in the project. Once you have joined the group, please make a database entry so we know where you intend to shoot on the solstice — click Database in the left column, then choose World Wide Panorama 6/04.

Join WWP on Yahoo Groups .
Read 'AN INTERVIEW WITH WORLD WIDE PANORAMA ORGANIZERS'.