360° means looking around a camera position

A 360° panorama records the surroundings of a camera position. You can look in different directions, but dragging the image does not move the camera to a new location. In a tour with several scenes, a navigation point opens another image captured from a different position.

This is useful for taking in an atmosphere from a chosen viewpoint: a balcony view, the interior of a room or the entrance to a venue. The visible details come from the photographs captured by the tour creator. The available path through the tour depends on where those photographs were taken and how they have been connected.

3D means exploring spatial information

A 3D model contains spatial information that a viewer uses to calculate an image from a changing viewpoint. The TEEDD360 3D viewer offers orbit and free-movement controls, allowing you to examine shapes and the relationship between spaces from different directions.

What you can see depends on the source data. Some sides may contain fewer details or may be incomplete if they were not captured. Moving the viewpoint does not guarantee a complete image at every possible position. Start with an overall view before moving closer to a particular feature.

A 360° photograph is not automatically a 3D file

Changing a file extension or uploading a panorama into a 3D import screen does not give the image depth. The data needs a model-creation process and an export in a supported format. Even a .ply file can contain different kinds of information, so it must be checked for compatible Gaussian Splat data.

As a visitor, you do not need to manage those files. Look for the 360° PANORAMA or 3D EXPERIENCE label on an experience card and open the link published by its creator. The label tells you which kind of exploration to expect.

Let your curiosity choose the view

If you want to experience the atmosphere from a chosen camera position, a 360° tour is an approachable starting point. If you want to examine shapes or spatial relationships, try a 3D experience with good coverage of that area. The two formats can tell different parts of the same place’s story.

  • In 360°, drag to look around and use the available scene connections.
  • In 3D, begin by orbiting the whole model, then move towards individual details.
  • If you lose your orientation in the 3D viewer, reset to the starting view and begin again.