As noted by The Next Web, Apple has posted a 360-degree panorama of its new Grand Central Terminal retail store on opening day, showing the large crowds and the new store in the context of the massive terminal building. The panorama supports gyroscope input on compatible iOS devices, allowing users to experience the panorama simply by rotating the device.
The panorama is accessible by visiting Apple's Grand Central retail store page and tapping on the "View More Photos" link on the featured store photo. The panorama is the final image in the gallery, and can be navigated by gyroscope on newer iPhone and iPad devices and by clicking/tapping and dragging on other devices.
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The gyroscope-supported panorama is a new inclusion for Apple on its site, adding a new immersive experience for site visitors right from the mobile Safari browser.
Mobile Safari was updated to support gyroscope input late last year with iOS 4.2, and developers quickly began taking advantage of the new capabilities once they became publicly known. Occipital was among the first developers to integrate the functionality, using it in its popular 360 Panorama app to allow users to view panoramic photographs in the same way Apple has now done with its Grand Central panorama.
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Another outstanding contribution to the site. Thank you.
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Haha their retail devision operates separately from their engineering teams. And let's be honest, they have enough money to run as many concurrent projects as they want.
I hate to see a standard (or even a proposed one) just sit there when it could be implemented and doing cool things. Thank goodness Apple is around to push open, cross-platform standards for web apps. (Accelerometer being just one example of Apple leading with open browser technologies while Google/others lag behind or don’t bother.)
P.S. The app 360 Panorama is very cool for making accelerometer-enabled panoramas like this, which they host for you (no cost) on their site. My favorite panorama app so far—and the easiest to use. (But for distant shots: panos of rooms/nearby objects/moving people are always quite tricky.)