CleVR
Encyclopedia
CleVR is a free panoramic
photo sharing
site and photo stitching software. It allows panoramas to be embedded into other web pages using a Flash
viewer. Panoramas can be displayed with hotspots
— areas in the scene that can be clicked to display other content or to navigate to another scene. This functionality is similar to that provided by Apple's QuickTime VR
, but it allows images, text and Flash Video (FLV
) video to be displayed within the panorama window.
content. The name CleVR is a contraction
of "Clementine Virtual Reality". At first, panoramas could not be posted by the public, so the site contained virtual tours created by Clementine. In October 2006, the web site re-launched in public beta as a free site that allowed panoramas to be created by anyone. Much of the content from the previous CleVR site was imported to the new platform. The new site was a complete rewrite of the old code, and was no longer based on QuickTime VR. Instead it used a Flash viewer developed by Clementine to display the panoramas. The new site was officially launched in April 2007.
On the current site, the photo stitcher and panorama viewer were developed using Adobe Flash
, Flex
and AIR. The CleVR site is written in PHP
, and uses PEAR
and ImageMagick
. Images are hosted using Amazon S3
.
software integrated with the site. This is an Adobe AIR application, created with Adobe Flex
. A Java version is also available. The stitcher generates cylindrical panoramas, the only projection
supported by the CleVR website and software. The stitcher has fewer features than other image stitching software, but is designed to be simple and easy to use.
The CleVR photo stitching software can stitch most panoramas without user interaction, but also has support for setting manual control points. While the finished panoramas can be saved to the user's computer as a JPEG
file, in most cases they will be uploaded to the CleVR website from within the stitcher.
Users can also use other stitching software to create panoramas and upload them to CleVR.
, using a Flash
-based viewer that can be embedded in a web page or viewed on the CleVR site.
The viewer re-projects the equirectangular
panorama to an orthographic projection
so that the view appears more natural, without the curved lines otherwise typical for panoramic photographs. It also overlays the clickable hotspots for navigation and the display of text, images and video.
Panoramic photography
Panoramic photography is a technique of photography, using specialized equipment or software, that captures images with elongated fields of view. It is sometimes known as wide format photography. The term has also been applied to a photograph that is cropped to a relatively wide aspect ratio...
photo sharing
Photo sharing
Photo sharing is the publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online, thus enabling the user to share them with others . This function is provided through both websites and applications that facilitate the upload and display of images...
site and photo stitching software. It allows panoramas to be embedded into other web pages using a Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
viewer. Panoramas can be displayed with hotspots
Screen hotspot
A screen hotspot, in computing, provides a special area on the display screen of a computer for hyperlinking or for other GUI-based activity ....
— areas in the scene that can be clicked to display other content or to navigate to another scene. This functionality is similar to that provided by Apple's QuickTime VR
QuickTime VR
QuickTime VR is a type of image file format developed by Apple Inc. for QuickTime. It allows the creation and viewing of photographically-captured panoramas and the exploration of objects through images taken at multiple viewing angles...
, but it allows images, text and Flash Video (FLV
FLV
Flash Video is a container file format used to deliver video over the Internet using Adobe Flash Player versions 6–11. Flash Video content may also be embedded within SWF files. There are two different video file formats known as Flash Video: FLV and F4V. The audio and video data within FLV files...
) video to be displayed within the panorama window.
History
CleVR was originally launched by Clementine in 2000 as a platform for managing QuickTime VRQuickTime VR
QuickTime VR is a type of image file format developed by Apple Inc. for QuickTime. It allows the creation and viewing of photographically-captured panoramas and the exploration of objects through images taken at multiple viewing angles...
content. The name CleVR is a contraction
Contraction (grammar)
A contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters....
of "Clementine Virtual Reality". At first, panoramas could not be posted by the public, so the site contained virtual tours created by Clementine. In October 2006, the web site re-launched in public beta as a free site that allowed panoramas to be created by anyone. Much of the content from the previous CleVR site was imported to the new platform. The new site was a complete rewrite of the old code, and was no longer based on QuickTime VR. Instead it used a Flash viewer developed by Clementine to display the panoramas. The new site was officially launched in April 2007.
On the current site, the photo stitcher and panorama viewer were developed using Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
, Flex
Adobe Flex
Adobe Flex is a software development kit released by Adobe Systems for the development and deployment of cross-platform rich Internet applications based on the Adobe Flash platform...
and AIR. The CleVR site is written in PHP
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
, and uses PEAR
Pear
The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....
and ImageMagick
ImageMagick
ImageMagick is an open source software suite for displaying, converting, and editing raster image files. It can read and write over 100 image file formats. ImageMagick is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license.- Features and capabilities:...
. Images are hosted using Amazon S3
Amazon S3
Amazon S3 is an online storage web service offered by Amazon Web Services. Amazon S3 provides storage through web services interfaces...
.
Photo stitcher
CleVR includes free image stitchingImage stitching
Image stitching or photo stitching is the process of combining multiple photographic images with overlapping fields of view to produce a segmented panorama or high-resolution image. Commonly performed through the use of computer software, most approaches to image stitching require nearly exact...
software integrated with the site. This is an Adobe AIR application, created with Adobe Flex
Adobe Flex
Adobe Flex is a software development kit released by Adobe Systems for the development and deployment of cross-platform rich Internet applications based on the Adobe Flash platform...
. A Java version is also available. The stitcher generates cylindrical panoramas, the only projection
Graphical projection
Graphical projection is a protocol by which an image of a three-dimensional object is projected onto a planar surface without the aid of mathematical calculation, used in technical drawing.- Overview :...
supported by the CleVR website and software. The stitcher has fewer features than other image stitching software, but is designed to be simple and easy to use.
The CleVR photo stitching software can stitch most panoramas without user interaction, but also has support for setting manual control points. While the finished panoramas can be saved to the user's computer as a JPEG
JPEG
In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
file, in most cases they will be uploaded to the CleVR website from within the stitcher.
Users can also use other stitching software to create panoramas and upload them to CleVR.
Panorama viewer
The most distinguishing feature of CleVR is the way it allows panoramas to be easily shared and posted on other sites. This is done in a manner similar to services such as YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, using a Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
-based viewer that can be embedded in a web page or viewed on the CleVR site.
The viewer re-projects the equirectangular
Equirectangular projection
The equirectangular projection is a very simple map projection attributed to Marinus of Tyre, who Ptolemy claims invented the projection about AD 100...
panorama to an orthographic projection
Orthographic projection
Orthographic projection is a means of representing a three-dimensional object in two dimensions. It is a form of parallel projection, where all the projection lines are orthogonal to the projection plane, resulting in every plane of the scene appearing in affine transformation on the viewing surface...
so that the view appears more natural, without the curved lines otherwise typical for panoramic photographs. It also overlays the clickable hotspots for navigation and the display of text, images and video.