54 million Americans have used the Internet to take virtual tours
A recent survey taken between November 23 and November 30 2004 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 54% of Americans have taken virtual tours on the Internet. “…45% of online American adults have taken advantage of this Internet application and taken virtual tours of another location online. That represents 54 million adults who have used the Internet to venture somewhere else.” Furthermore: “On a typical day, more than two million people are using the internet to take a virtual tour.”

As expected, “some of the most popular virtual tour destinations include museums, tourist and vacation locales, colleges and prep schools, real estate, historical exhibits, parks and nature preserves, public places such as the White House and the Taj Mahal, and hotels and motels.”

Some interesting breakdowns of the 54 million Americans online who have taken virtual tours:
- 80% are white
- 53% are female
- 55% fall between the ages of 28 and 49
- 21% are older baby boomers (aged 50 to 58)
- 42% have a household income of $75,000 or more
- 46% have a college or graduate degree
- 55% live in the suburbs (32% are urban-dwellers)
- 64% have broadband access at home
- 56% are not parents

IQTVRA Becomes the International VR Photography Association (IVRPA)
(December 29, 2004)
The International QuickTime VR Association (IQTVRA) has officially changed its name to the International VR Photography Association (IVRPA), a switch that reflects an expanding Internet landscape for interactive 360º images. (www.IVRPA.org)

The organization was founded in 1998 to promote the use of interactive virtual reality photographs -- images that can take viewers around the globe from Himalayan mountain tops to exotic tropical beaches with a click of the mouse. In recent years such VR (virtual reality) photography has become familiar to home buyers, families planning holiday travel and even school children studying the ancient Pyramids.

"The net continues to change our world, and immersive images that viewers can control on their laptops, plasma TV's, and handhelds are part of the change," said Michael Quan, IVRPA president. "Our goal is to help photographers show off the world with today's VR panoramas and tomorrow's 360º video."

New Fisheye Lens Patent
Coastal Optical Systems has been awarded a patent for the invention of interior aircraft monitoring using fisheye lenses and a data system. The patent covers use of single and multiple hemispherical lenses, use of onboard image data recorders and data transmitters.

"With hemispherical lenses, it is possible to monitor each area of the plane with a single fixed camera," said Jay Kumler, president of Coastal. "Hemispherical images allow minimizing the system complexity needed to put NTSB eyes' on the aircraft and the pilot's eyes in all areas of a plane. Fisheye cameras have superior depth of field, and they do not require refocus, pan or tilt. These particular fisheye cameras are the best devices to compliment the existing Flight Data Recorders and Flight Voice Recorders."

The systems described in the patent provide image data stored on the plane, pilot monitoring of areas remote to the cockpit, and transmission of image data in real time for ground based analysis.

Michael Price of Sitetraffic.com is profiled in local newspaper
‘The Villager’ profiled Michael Price, his website Sitetraffic.com and his involvement with World Wide Panoramas.