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Introducing Tour Creator by Google

Google Editor

Google recently launched Tour Creator, a way for anyone to easily create immersive virtual reality tours right from your computer. Using footage from 360 cameras or choosing from existing Street View content, you can take us on a tour of some of your favorite places.

 

 

You can use it to show other Local Guides what makes your hometown beautiful, give us a glimpse at a small business that just opened up in your area, or create an interactive look at scenic locations you visit during your next vacation.


Anyone with a computer and internet access can create and publish a virtual reality tour on Tour Creator. Visit g.co/tourcreator on Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari and sign in with your Google account to get started. You can give us lots of details by adding in image overlays or points of interest to call attention to something specific about each scene in your tour.

 

Caption: Tour Creator on a mobile phone.Caption: Tour Creator on a mobile phone.

Once you’ve finished creating your tour, publish it to Poly, Google’s library of 3D content. You’ll then be able to embed it on Connect or any other website. With just the URL, anyone can view your tour on a browser or through a Google Cardboard headset.

 

Some Local Guides have already started using the new tool to create beautiful, 360-degree tours of their areas.

 

Arul Chris took us around SVS Engineering College in Coimbatore, India. His tour can give prospective students and faculty a better look at the school’s facilities. Want to volunteer to do the same for a university in your area? Fill out this form.

  

 

Local Guide Steve Perry decided to take us to a place filled with natural beauty. All those dreaming of visiting Joshua Tree National Park in southern California can now get a virtual glimpse by taking his tour.

  

 

Tour Creator can also be an excellent tool for showing people around a business, venue, or office. David W. Cox used it to give us a look at a dental practice in North Haven, Connecticut. His tour is set up to show potential patients details they may not see during a normal visit.

 

 

To check out more tours created by Local Guides like you, head on over to poly.google.com/tours.

 

Where will you take us using Tour Creator? What place would you love for other Local Guides to virtually show you? Let us know in the comments.

126 Comments
Connect Moderator

I love this @AriMar! Thanks for sharing 🙂

Indonesia Local Guides
Connect Moderator

Gracias por compartir @AriMar, el otro día lo lei y mire la página,  ya que deseaba usarlo para contar la historia de los aborígenes de la TIerra del Fuego, y hablando con un compañero de viaje que se dedica enseñar sobre la prospección de pozos petroleros quedó muy impresionado al contarle sobre la herramienta, se entusiasmó mucho para usarla para enseñar con ella.

Lo único que no me gusta es que solo la puedo usar desde una PC o una Mac, no está disponible para iOS, espero que pronto podamos contar con esa opción, ya que el uso de un iPad es muy generalizado 🙂

 

Saludos Farid

 

Level 8

Lovely and very informative feature... I personally find it very exciting and useful. I want to know can I volunteer if I donot have a 360 degree camera and there is no existing street view also...

Level 9

Wow beautiful, I have subscribed it but yet to make a tour myself 🙂
Thanks for sharing @AriMar

Level 9

@AriMar Thank you very much for the post and it was great having one of my tours used and being part of this. I look forward to doing a whole lot of these for places in the area and companies that want a more interesting way to tell their story. I can not wait to see the upgrades and additions in the future.  Interesting how easy it was to get started and can not wait to see if sound and video can be added. Then I really HOPE that this gets integrated into Google My Business and can be posted to there listings so the cover picture shows up and then starts the tour when you click on it. That would be neat and a huge market for Google Streetview Photographers to do for companies. 

 

Thanks David

@AriMar amazing 

Level 10

Hi @AriMar

I am really thrilled to know that.

I have mentioned about VR and AR in my application video of Local Guides Connect 2018.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VuPKNZV-95Y

 

Thank you Google

 

 

 

BHASI BAHULEYAN
Level 9

@AriMar

 

Thank you very much for the update .

We as a Trusted Photographer would love to work on it .

 

Will definitely showcase the maximum area possible in this .

https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/badges/userbadgespage/user-id/21203/page/1#
Level 8

Thanks for sharing this, will use my Gear 360 and Tour Creator to get things started 

Level 10

Hi @AriMar, I am preparing for adding my perspectives.

BHASI BAHULEYAN
Level 10

J'adore merci d'avoir partager cette information @AriMar.

C'est une fonctionnalité très intéressante. Ajouter de l'interactivité dans une photo 360 est vraiment un plus.

A votre santé

Vincent 

Level 9

Great!

Connect with me: My blog, YouTubeFacebookInstagram

Level 8

Bu mükemmel paylaşım için teşekkür ederim. Antalya da, Yerel Rehberler buluşması düzenledik. Buluşma çok eğlenceli ve keyifliydi. Biz bunu gerektiği gibi yansıtamadık. Yerel Rehberler Antalya Buluşması 

Everything in your life as you want
Level 9

Hello @AriMar, Thanks for sharing such a wonderful post with us. Undoubtedly, it's a very amazing news for us ...!!!

I ❤️ Bangladesh | Meet-Ups | Achievements | Instagram | My Website
Level 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Many thanks. @AriMar, fulfilled the form now! There are a lot of universities around my town.

Level 9

I really love it. I used to try once shortly but this time I will create a virtual tour for my city. Thank for sharing @AriMar.

Connect Moderator

Les comparto el primer tours virtual que realice, es una pequeña muestra de lo poderosa que es esta herramienta.

 

El recorrido es por los alrededores de la Mision Salesiana, en la ciudad de Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego.

 

 

Level 10

LOVE IT  Wonderful feature

Level 8

Excellent. Thank you.

 

 

Level 10

Amazing new feature! Tour Creator and Tour Publishing website I have been waiting for. Hope you add more features on Tour Creator soon like having ability to overlay not just photo but audio or vidio, there is connection between panorama, menu for easy navigation and so on. 

Level 7

Wow how cool ... Thanks for sharing  @AriMar

Level 8

Amazing feature again @AriMar

Thanks for sharing. 

Namaste, Niraj

Level 8

Sounds amazing. I hope its not too hard for an older person like myself to work out.

Level 9

@Lia_T It is really not difficult at all. It autosaves information as you add it and you can upload 360's or link from Street view. I have done some without reading directions and am really old. 

Level 10

@AriMar it's not working after uplaod picture show a massage . internet connection fail . as like this connection problem.JPG

 

 

 

Mahabub Hasan
Level 10

OMG! 

Love This! 🙂

Thank you so much @AriMar

Add, Edit, Explore More ! || Google Maps Contributions || Gujju Local Guides on G+
Level 9

many many thanks 🙂 @AriMar for sharing this wonderful news 🙂

Wow, Go google Maps !!

Level 10

This is amazing @AriMar!! Thanks a lot for sharing it. I think I will try to make a tour now! 🙂

 

@Gio51x check this out, I think you might like it

Argentina | Follow me on Maps! | IG
Level 10

@ValeriaA_  

 

thanks dear friend I have to learn how to use this beautiful program ....

Level 10

@AriMar 

 

is this new software an evolution of the Tourmake?
Does it replace the Tourmake / Viewmake with new 360s with highlights of interest?

Level 10

Hi @AriMar

Wow!

Thank you for sharing this great information here and on +Google Local Guides . The #TourCreator is another excellent program. Sensational to share these Tour Creator images to +Google Maps , plus on excellent social media like GooglePlus and Blogger. It is absolutely incredible!

Really fun and totally amazing!

 

Fabulous how our pictures tell the story and come alive for everyone we share them with, so they can be there at every place that we were at there too! It is so cool! Kudos! #LetsGuide #OnGoogleMaps #LocalGuidesAustralia #LocalGuidesConnect #GoogleMaps #GoogleMapsLocalGuidesConnect

 

Always so cool to see it all on +Google+ as well. Extra great pictures for #GoogleMaps and also +Google Photos albums to share to will create even better story telling for personal and professional businesses. It is very important and great to read about how you say we can use this and also share it too. It will be super to share it by telling Local businesses as we take pictures for their shops and businesses about this as well as

Google My Business and for more Google Maps Local Guides fun and outstanding services available for all

 

Cheers! 

Best wishes

@Justine2807

 

More outstanding programs to share @Osaka78forTRUMP , @PaulPavlinovich , @RupendraNeupane , @SurenAbrahamyan , @AlejandraMaria , @ErmesT , @SarahKa 

Level 10

@AriMar

Amazing topic.

Wonderful views.

Thanks for sharing.

BM63
Level 7

I was excited to finally see a tour creator for PC, but at closer inspection, it's actually a fancy slideshow creator with some extra features like 360, PiP and POI.  What I was actually expecting is a way to make virtual tours for Google Maps on PC, so you don't have to fiddle around on a ridiculously small smartphone screen to get all the nodes in place.  Or am I missing something and is it actually possible to do what I was expecting?

WOW, you never cease to amaze me. Excellent news, I'm excited to start using the tour creator.

Level 9

Hello @AriMar

I love to create university tour and also filled out the form,but I don't own a 36o camera I use my smartphone for the same.

Is it okay to shoot with smartphone if not can I have a 360 camera from you loan programing.

 

Regards,

Shravan

This is actually really cool. I will work this weekend on a Virtual Tour of Dominican Republic. 🙂

Level 8

Does Tour Creator have a FAQ section? I couldn't see one. If there is hopefully a few of my questions will be answered there. e.g. can you create a legacy tour , i.e. one that will remain accessible after the creator has passed away? For instance, if I wanted to create a tour for Auckland Cemeteries (yes an unpopular type I know), to be available for genealogists for ongoing research, and remain available after I have died, what would I need to do to preserve it for the future, if anything? And in that case, how would it ever be retired, and who could do that? I may also like a tour to remain available for my children perhaps, of places we have shared together, as a bit of a memory capsule?

Level 8

Thanks @davidcox

I have only just bought a 360 camera, and will be starting to experiment with that, and have never used Street view before, so this will all be a bit of a learning curve (some brain overload perhaps with a few new things at once). Only hoping I will get up to speed within the next month to be able to make the most of the opportunities on my trip to the UK in July. It is difficult in between full time work, and the easier it is to learn, the faster that will happen. 

Wow it's amazing @AriMar I love this. Thanks for sharing this amazing Tour Creator.

Love to Hear ; Love to Share !
Kamal Hasnainee
Bangladesh

@AriMar Thanks for sharing - Great Idea!

Here is mine 😉

 

hope you have fun

Walter Sanders

Hi is there an opinion to show the Tour larger ?

Walter Sanders
Level 3

Wow, that is really amazing.

Level 8

wow great topic

Level 7

Hi - thank you for the post, can't wait to try it out! 

Level 6

I did my first tests and Tour Creator seems a quite good tool.

Few things I'am missing:

  • Small map which shows "where we are"
  • Business integration. How can I create a tour for a business (e.x. moving rights)?
  • Video, audio POIs

I keep testing!

Thanks for the greater tool!

Level 9

I rarely love this @AriMar

Thanks for sharing

Cheers

Saudi local guide 🇸🇦

Level 10

Good idea to make VR tour, especially for university,college for international students,

Thanks for sharing the news

Level 7

Wow, this is going to help take 360 up another notch. I've been working on local nature trails & this is going to make that process much smoother.

Can't wait to use this!